Northwestern Wildcats (13-4) vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers (13-5)
January 20, 2024 2:15 pm EDT
The Line: Nebraska Cornhuskers -4; Over/Under: -
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The Northwestern Wildcats and the Nebraska Cornhuskers meet Saturday in college basketball action from Pinnacle Bank Arena. Northwestern played Maryland in their last outing. The 13-4 Wildcats went on to bag a three-point victory. As for Nebraska, they’re coming off a Wednesday game versus Rutgers. In that one the Cornhuskers fell to 13-5 this year with an overtime defeat. Let’s get into our Northwestern vs. Nebraska prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Northwestern Wildcats
The Wildcats posted a 10-3 run over their first 13 outings this year, taking wins over Binghamton, Dayton, Western Michigan, Rhode Island, Northern Illinois, Purdue, Detroit, DePaul, Arizona State and Jackson State. A 2-2 run with losses to Illinois and Wisconsin came in the next four games.
On Wednesday versus Maryland, the Wildcats were up by four points going into the second half. Northwestern kept the pace from there and pulled off the win 72-69. Leading the way was Boo Buie with his 20 points, four rebounds and seven assists in the victory effort.
Nebraska Cornhuskers
Over on the Cornhuskers’ side, they opened up their season with seven straight wins before falling to Creighton and Minnesota. Nebraska would then beat Michigan State, Kansas State, North Dakota, South Carolina State, Indiana and Purdue with losses to Wisconsin and Iowa over the next eight matchups.
In their game against Rutgers on Wednesday, Nebraska kept the pace for two halves with 36 points in the first and 33 in the second. The Cornhuskers were outscored 18-13 in overtime though, falling 87-82. Leading team scorer Brice Williams put up 22 points with six rebounds in the defeat.
ANDREW’S FREE NORTHWESTERN VS NEBRASKA PREDICTION
I’ll probably take a stab on Northwestern. You could probably call this one either way, though. The Wildcats gave up quite a bit of offense to Maryland in their last game (52.1 percent shooting), however they were great from the line (18-of-22) and had just seven turnovers. That makes 72 or more points in three of the last four games for Northwestern (all three were wins), so if they can score well here the Wildcats have a great cover shot.
As for Nebraska, they didn’t shoot very well against Rutgers (37.9 percent) and got out-rebounded 56-42 in their latest loss. The Cornhuskers are still scoring very well themselves, but they’re also giving up quite a few points on the other side these days. Northwestern may have enough room to power out a cover.
