Wisconsin vs Iowa College Basketball Picks, Odds, Predictions 2/18/21

The Iowa Hawkeyes and the Wisconsin Badgers meet Thursday in college basketball action from Kohl Center. 

Iowa enters this matchup at 15-6 so far. The Hawkeyes are 2-2 in their last four games and coming off a win over Michigan State. As for Wisconsin, they’re 15-7 this season. The Badgers are 1-2 in their last three and coming off a loss to Michigan. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place. 

Iowa opened up their year on a nice 12-2 run with losses to only Gonzaga and Minnesota. Since then it’s been a 3-4 run for the Hawkeyes, losing to Indiana, Illinois, Ohio State and Indiana while otherwise beating Rutgers and Michigan State (twice). 

In Saturday’s 88-58 win over the Spartans, Iowa’s Joe Wieskamp put up 21 points with seven rebounds and three assists. Jack Nunge added 18 points with 11 rebounds and six assists, and Connor McCaffery put up 16 points with two boards and one assist. 

Over on the Wisconsin side, they began the year at 11-3 with losses to Marquette, Maryland and Michigan. Over their last eight games the Badgers have alternated wins with defeats, and most recently fell to Michigan 67-59 on Sunday. 

In the loss to the Wolverines, Wisconsin’s D’Mitrik Trice led the team on 16 points with five rebounds and three assists. Aleem Ford posted 15 points with two rebounds, and Jonathan Davis put up 11 points and three boards. 

The Badgers are 9-3 ATS in their last 12 Thursday games and 4-0 ATS in their last four after an ATS loss. Wisconsin is 2-5 ATS in their last seven versus a team with a winning straight-up record and the under is 3-0-1 in their last four overall. 

Meanwhile, the Hawkeyes are 2-5 ATS in their last seven games overall and 2-5 ATS in their last seven versus a team with a winning straight-up record. The under is 5-2 in Iowa’s last seven overall and 4-1 in their last five after an ATS win. 

PICK: I’m sticking with Iowa. The Hawkeyes have played pretty well lately despite the 3-3 mark over their last six games. Each of the losses was by five points or fewer, and Iowa notched 75 or more points in five of those six outings. Wisconsin has a combined 120 points in their last two games, and if the Hawkeyes get going in this one I don’t think the Badgers will be able to keep up. Should be an interesting game.