Welcome to the Super Tuesday college hoops slate, sports betting family. Now that conference play is in full swing and the College Football Playoff is winding down, you can expect us to cover the college hardwood a little bit more around these parts.
I can't wait for this Big Ten matchup between the Hoosiers and Sparty. Both of these teams look like legitimate conference title contenders, and both have NCAA Tournament aspirations. Check out my best bet for Indiana vs Michigan State below. Good luck and enjoy the game.
Online sportsbooks opened this line at Michigan State -6 on the lookahead line yesterday. A little bit of money has come in on Sparty, so much so that the line is now sitting at Michigan State -6.5 at the time of this writing. However, FanDuel is offering the Spartans at -5.5 if you wish to play that side.
As for the game total, there's been some Under money in the market so far. The line opened at 140.5, and a few spots are now offering 139.5. As always, be sure to shop around for the best price before pulling the trigger on any bet.
The Hoosiers will be looking to get a bad taste out of their mouths, as they blew a 16-point lead late to lose to the undefeated Nebraska Cornhuskers last Saturday. Indiana has a decent record at 12-4, but they've yet to earn a Quad 1 win this season. Maybe a trip to East Lansing will change that.
Indiana has gotten solid play out of Lamar Wilkerson and Tucker DeVries. Wilkerson is averaging more than 20 points per game, and DeVries leads the team in rebounding (5.1 per game). Reed Bailey and Tayton Conerway have also chipped in quite nicely.
Defense has been a strong point of this Indiana squad so far this year. The Hoosiers rank 10th in effective field goal percentage allowed and 15th in 2-point defense. One of IU's weaknesses, though, is that they don't grab many offensive rebounds.
Michigan State got a 10-point win over Northwestern last week, but it wasn't exactly a pretty victory. Sparty trailed at the half by seven before turning things around late. That being said, this is still a very talented squad with a lot of depth and toughness.
Jaxon Kohler and Jeremy Fears get a lot of attention, and rightfully so. Kohler leads the team in points and rebounds, while Fears has proven to be one of the best facilitators in the country (8.8 assists per game).
As usual, this Tom Izzo team wins with rebounding and solid defense. Sparty ranks 5th on the glass and 11th in points allowed this year. Those are two things that Izzo preaches, so again, it's no surprise that these are areas of strength for MSU.
IND vs MI ST: 7:00 PM ET on January 13 (Peacock)
I like the Hoosiers in the first half in this spot quite a bit. Yes, I know that Sparty has a nice rest advantage, but I think it's good for Indiana to get back on the floor quickly after that big disappointment on Saturday.
I'm expecting new head coach Darian DeVries to have his team ready to roll here on the road. Indiana has had good luck recently against Michigan State, and I think that continues in this one. The Hoosiers have won three of the last four meetings against the Spartans.
My power rating actually says that Indiana should be favored in the first half in this matchup by a bucket. I know that's hard to believe, but the Hoosiers have been the 4th-best first-half team in the nation so far. The problem is that they've been fading late in games, so we'll go the first-half route to avoid that here. Good luck, sports betting amigos!
Trends I Love:
Indiana is 8-5 ATS in 1st Halves over their last 13 games. (15% ROI)
Michigan State is just 16-22 ATS in 1st Halves their last 38. ( -21% ROI)