The 3 seed Wisconsin Badgers will take on the 6 seed BYU Cougars in a big time round of 32 matchup on Saturday. Wisconsin blew by Montana in a first round game that they controlled from start to finish. Five different players scored in double figures to help get the win.
Greg Gard once again has another impressive team in Madison, but these are not your same old Badgers. Contrary to the past, this team can really score the ball averaging almost 80 points per game. They are led by First Team All Big Ten member John Tonje who is an elite scorer and great creator with the ball in his hands. The Badgers have struggled this time of year in the past as they have not made it through the first weekend of the tournament since 2017.
BYU took care of business in their opening game with a double digit victory over VCU despite many predicting an upset. Freshman and NBA Draft prospect Egor Demin, who overall has had a disappointing season, stepped up on Thursday scoring 15 points with 3 three pointers in his first NCAA Tournament game. The Cougars ended the regular season red hot on a nine game win streak. They are a very impressive team on the offensive end and are led by head coach Kevin Young who is in his first year after a long tenure in the NBA. This is the Cougars first time since 2011 that they are making an appearance in the round of 32 and that was also the last time they made the Sweet 16.
No matter who wins, a drought will be broken as the winner will advance in the east region and be one step closer to the ultimate goal.
How to watch BYU vs. Wisconsin
- Date: Saturday, March 22
- Time: 7:45 p.m. ET
- Venue: Ball Arena, Denver, CO
- How to Watch (TV): CBS
- Streaming: fubo TV
- BYU record: 25-9 (14-6)
- Wisconsin record: 27-9 (13-7)
BYU vs. Wisconsin odds, spread and total
Odds provided by FanDuel Sportsbook
Moneyline
- BYU -105
- Wisconsin -114
Spread
- BYU +1.5 (-115)
- Wisconsin -1.5 (-105)
Total
- 154.5 (over -115/under -105)
BYU injury report
- N/A
Wisconsin injury report
- N/A
Wisconsin and BYU series history
- Wisconsin all-time record vs. BYU: 1-0
BYU vs. Wisconsin prediction
One thing I will confidently predict is a high scoring game here. Both teams can score and shoot well which they both did in the opening round in this arena. The Cougars defense has not been spectacular this year, but it looked really good against VCU. If they can bring that energy to this game I think they could win.
But this is March and in a game like this that is a real coin flip, I am going to take the team with the best player on the floor and that is Wisconsin with John Tonje. They may actually have the two best players with John Blackwell as well and I trust these guys down the stretch with the ball in their hands to pull out a win for the Badgers.