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Minnesota vs Washington Prediction 2/1/25 College Basketball Picks Today

Washington (10-10) vs. Minnesota (11-10)
February 1, 2025 12:00 pm EDT
The Line: Minnesota -3.5; Over/Under: 135.5
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The Washington Huskies and the Minnesota Golden Gophers meet Saturday in college basketball action from Williams Arena. Here’s a Minnesota vs Washington prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Minnesota vs Washington pick.

Washington Huskies Betting Preview

The Huskies opened their year on a pretty solid run. Since the calendar flipped to the new year however, they’ve had trouble finding wins. Washington started out on a 6-1 stretch, losing to only Nevada amid wins over UC Davis, Seattle Pacific, UMass Lowell, Alcorn State, Colorado State and Santa Clara otherwise. A 4-3 stretch came after that, with losses to UCLA, USC and Seattle U amid wins over Eastern Washington, Washington State, NJIT and Maryland. Since then it’s been a string of six straight losses for the Huskies. They’ve fallen to Illinois, Michigan State, Michigan, Purdue, Oregon and UCLA during a tough run. The result in the record column so far has been a 10-10 overall run through 20 games for Washington.


In their matchup last Friday versus UCLA, the Huskies held a 36-32 deficit by the end of the first half. Washington didn’t end up gaining any ground in the second on a 29-28 deficit and lost the game 65-60 in the end. The team’s only double-digit scorer was Great Osobor with 19 points, nine rebounds, one steal and one block. Zoom Diallo added eight points with four rebounds and a pair of assists, while Tyree Ihenacho came off the bench for eight points, one rebound and one assist in 21 minutes of work on the floor.

Minnesota Golden Gophers Betting Preview

Over on the Minnesota side, they’ve had some solid runs of play this year—and also some rough stretches. The Gophers have barely been able to keep their heads above the .500 mark so far this season. Minnesota took out Oral Roberts, Omaha, Yale, Cleveland State and Central Michigan (with a loss to North Texas) during a 5-1 start. A 3-4 run came next with losses to Wichita State, Wake Forest, Michigan State and Indiana amid wins over Bethune-Cookman, Fairleigh Dickinson and Morgan State otherwise. Minnesota would lose the next four versus Purdue, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Maryland. Since then it’s been a 3-1 run with wins over Michigan, Iowa and Oregon ahead of a loss to Michigan State for an 11-10 overall record. I

n their Tuesday matchup with Michigan State, the Gophers went into the second half limping after a rough 36-16 deficit. Minnesota got better in the second but didn’t get any closer on a 37-35 run for a 73-51 defeat in the end. Dawson Garcia was the team’s only scorer to reach double figures with 21 points, five rebounds, one assist and one block. Mike Mitchell (one rebound) and Lu’Cye Patterson (four assists) each notched eight points, and Isaac Asuma had eight points with three rebounds and two steals in 21 minutes of work off the bench.

Why the Minnesota Golden Gophers will win

  • Minnesota has won each of its last eight day games at Williams Arena.
  • Washington has lost 12 of its last 13 games against the Big Ten Conference.
  • Washington has lost the first half in eight of its last nine games against the Big Ten Conference.

Why the Washington Huskies will win

  • Minnesota has lost 10 of its last 13 games against the Big Ten Conference.
  • Washington has won three of its last four day games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Minnesota vs Washington Prediction

I’ll stay with Washington. You could probably call this one either way, though. Both teams could use a victory. The Huskies are coming off a sloppy loss to a pretty good UCLA team, posting 14 turnovers for 15 Bruins points. Washington didn’t shoot very well in that one (41.5 percent) and had a tepid eight team assists during the five-point defeat. The Huskies have scored fewer than 59 points in three of their last five games, and they’ve given up 81 or more points in four of the last six. As for Minnesota, they were demolished on the boards 40-22 in a road loss to Michigan State in their last game, shooting a tepid 41.2 percent along the way. The Gophers had scored 72 or more points in three straight wins prior to that however, so they should match up well here. I like Washington to power one out in a close overall game.

Andrew's Free Pick: Washington Huskies +3.5

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Andrew

Andrew has been writing about college, professional and fantasy sports betting since 2013. Andrew's goal is to break down the complicated numbers and trends into a language that's easily accessible to novice sports bettors and seasoned professionals alike.

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