The Michigan State Spartans have won 17-straight games against the Indiana Hoosiers at the Breslin Center, as the venue gets set to host its first-ever meeting between top-five programs.
Let’s take a closer look at the betting line for this Big
Ten Conference matchup, which tips off at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Solid basketball
The Hoosiers lead the country in outscoring opponents by
an average of 21.9 points, while sitting behind only one team in scoring 82.9
points per game.Indiana has won and covered the spread in its last three
games, including an 83-55 blowout victory over the Purdue Boilermakers as
18.5-point home favorites last Saturday, while going UNDER the posted total of
140.5.
Revenge-minded host
Michigan State has put together a five-game win streak
since suffering a 75-70 setback to Indiana as 9.5-point road underdogs on Jan.
27, which includes a 73-64 victory over the Nebraska Cornhuskers as nine-point
road favorites last time out.
The Spartans are 9-7-1 against the spread (ATS) when
revenging a road loss versus an opponent the last two-plus seasons, with the
UNDER going 9-8 in that situation.
Simple as taking the underdog?
College basketball handicappers may elect to simply take
the points when this game tips off in East Lansing, especially when you
consider that the Spartans are 2-12-1 ATS as home favorites of three points or
less in their last 15 opportunities. The
Hoosiers are 2-1 SUATS as road underdogs within the same point range over the
last two-plus seasons.
Home-court advantage
The Spartans are 18-1 all-time against the Hoosiers at
this venue, including 17 straight victories in that situation. Michigan State is also a solid 6-2 when
playing a game that involves top-10 teams at the Breslin Center.
Since the 2010-11 campaign, the program is 44-4 straight
up and 22-18 ATS when playing in front of its home fans.
Getting it done against ranked teams
The Hoosiers have won all five of their games against
foes that were ranked at the time of their matchup during the 2012-13 NCAA basketball
season, which is hard to ignore when looking over the college basketball odds
page. Overall, Indiana is 6-3 versus
teams that have been listed in the top-25 at some point this year.
Prediction
I’m going to recommend that readers play the total as one
of their NCAA basketball picks Tuesday night, as both teams should be able to
limit each other on the offensive glass, while both allow opponents to shoot
less than 40 percent from the field overall.
NCAA Basketball Pick: Under 141 at Bookmaker