Rutgers vs Minnesota College Basketball Picks, Odds, Predictions 2/4/21

The Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights meet in college basketball action from the Rutgers Athletic Center on Thursday night.

The Minnesota Golden Gophers will be out to bounce back from an 81-62 loss to Purdue last time out. Marcus Carr leads the Gophers in scoring with 20 PPG along with a team-high 5.2 APG and 4.1 RPG while Liam Robbins has 13.4 PPG with a team-high 6.9 RPG to make up the duo of double-digit scorers for Minnesota coming into this game. Gabe Kalscheur and Both Gach each have 9.1 PPG with Gach adding 4.9 RPG and 2.6 APG this season. As a team, Minnesota is averaging 76.1 PPG on 40.7% shooting from the field, 29.9% from 3-point range and 75.2% from the foul line while allowing 72.9 PPG on 42.3% shooting from the field and 33.2% from 3-point range this season.

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights will try to add to their current three-game winning streak after a 64-56 win over Northwestern last time out. Ron Harper Jr. leads Rutgers in scoring with 17.3 PPG as well as in rebounding with 6.2 RPG while Jacob Young has 14.6 PPG with a team-high 3.8 APG and Montez Mathis has 10.8 PPG to make up the trio of double-digit scorers for Rutgers coming into this game. Geo Baker also has 9.9 PPG with 2.9 APG for the Scarlet Knights this season. As a team, Rutgers is averaging 72.4 PPG on 46.2% shooting from the field, 33.9% from 3-point range and 59.1% from the foul line while allowing 68.1 PPG on 42.2% shooting from the field and 31.8% from 3-point range this season.

Minnesota is 0-6 ATS in their last 6 road games and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall while the under is 4-1 in their last 5 Thursday games. Rutgers is 5-2-1 ATS in their last 8 home games and 21-8-1 ATS in their last 30 games against a team with a winning record while the under is 4-1 in their last 5 games overall. The favorite is 8-1ATS in the last 9 meetings between these two teams.

This is going to be a pretty good game I think between two teams that could use the win going forward, with Rutgers looking to keep their winning streak alive while Minnesota will try to exorcise some demons on the road. With that said, I think we have a bit of a battle on our hands and I think this total is trending in the wrong direction. I can see this one as a game that stays in the 60s on both sides, and as such I’ll side with the under as my free pick for this game but my stronger play is on the side and I have that available as a premium pick that you can find here.