Rutgers vs Northwestern Pick – Basketball Predictions & Odds 3/5/23

The Northwestern Wildcats and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights meet in college basketball action from the Jersey Mike’s Arena on Sunday. Let’s dive into the odds, injuries, matchup history and make a prediction for this game.

Odds

Rutgers is a 5.5-point home favorite with the total for this game set at 126.5 points.

Injuries

For Northwestern, Julian Roper II remains out indefinitely with an ankle issue while Rutgers has Mawot Mag listed as out for the season with a knee injury.

Matchup History

Rutgers’ 65-62 win back on January 11^th, 2023, made it five wins in the last six head-to-head meetings for the Scarlet Knights.

Trends

Northwestern is 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games against a team with a winning record and 7-3 ATS in their last 10 road games against a team with a home winning percentage above .600 while the under is 7-1-1 in their last 9 games overall. Rutgers is 1-5-1 ATS in their last 7 games overall and 10-3 ATS in their last 13 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600 while the under is 6-2 in their last 8 games overall.

Pick

I’m backing the under here. You have two top-25 defenses against a pair of offenses ranked outside the top-250 in points per game scored on offense and I just don’t see very many points being scored in this game. I think this could easily be a first to 60 wins if we even make it there. Give me the under.