Michigan Wolverines (6-7) vs Minnesota Golden Gophers (10-3)
2024-01-04 21:00:00 EDT
The Line: Betting Odds: Michigan Wolverines -5.5 -- Over/Under: 151.5
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The Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Michigan Wolverines meet Thursday in college basketball action from Crisler Center. Minnesota is 10-3 this year following a win over Maine back on Friday. As for Michigan, they’re coming off a loss to McNeese that dropped the team to 6-7 overall. Let’s get into our Minnesota vs. Michigan prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Minnesota Golden Gophers
The Gophers went 5-3 in their first eight games this year, beating Bethune-Cookman, UTSA, USC Upstate, AR-Pine Bluff and New Orleans along the way. Since then Minnesota has won five straight games, taking out Nebraska, Florida Gulf Coast, IUPUI, Ball State and Maine in that stretch.
In the Maine game back on Friday, the Gophers were up 41-28 by the break. Minnesota kept it going in the second half with 39 more points and powered out a pretty routine 80-62 win. Leading the Gophers in scoring was Mike Mitchell with 18 points, two rebounds and one assist.
Michigan Wolverines
Over on the Wolverines’ side, they started out pretty well at 3-0 on the year. Michigan has since gone just 3-7 though. The losses in that time came versus Long Beach State, Memphis, Texas Tech, Oregon, Indiana, Florida and McNeese, with wins over Stanford, Iowa and Eastern Michigan otherwise.
The Wolverines played McNeese in their last outing back on Friday. In that one, Michigan faced a 40-37 deficit by halftime. After a 47-39 run in the second half, the Wolverines fell 87-76. Tops in scoring was Terrance Williams on his 20 points, three assists and two rebounds in the losing effort.
ANDREW’S FREE MINNESOTA VS MICHIGAN PREDICTION
I’ll stay with Minnesota. The Gophers are playing well right now and coming off another solid win over Maine. In that one Minnesota shot a nice 50.9 percent from the field with 45.8 percent (11-of-24) from 3-point range. During this five-game win streak, the Gophers have hit 76 or more points in each outing.
As for Michigan, there’s not much going right these days. The Wolverines have at least scored well lately with 75 or more points in six straight. Michigan is also giving up quite a bit on the other side to quality offenses though, so I don’t see them keeping a cover pace on Thursday.
