Wisconsin vs Northwestern Prediction 3/13/25 College Basketball Picks Today

The Northwestern Wildcats and the Wisconsin Badgers meet Thursday in Big Ten Tournament college basketball action from Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Here’s a Wisconsin vs Northwestern prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Wisconsin vs Northwestern pick.

Northwestern Wildcats Betting Preview

The Wildcats opened on a pretty nice run but it’s been fairly choppy amid a tough conference slate since then. Northwestern went 10-3 to start then fell to Penn State, Purdue, Michigan State and Michigan in the next five outings. After a win over Indiana came a 1-6 stretch featuring losses to Illinois, Rutgers, Wisconsin, Washington, Oregon and Nebraska. Wins over Ohio State, Minnesota and Iowa came next, then losses to UCLA and Maryland. That would give the Wildcats a 16-15 overall run across the 31 games of the regular season.

Matched up against Minnesota in the tournament game Wednesday, the Wildcats jumped out to a 32-29 edge in the first half. Northwestern kept it up with 40 more points in a 72-64 win. Leading the team in the victory was Nick Martinelli with 28 points, seven boards and three assists in 40 minutes of work.

Wisconsin Badgers Betting Preview

Over on the Badgers’ side, they’ve had a couple of spotty runs this year so far but overall they’re doing quite well in the record column. Wisconsin won their first eight games out of the gate, then took losses to Michigan, Marquette and Illinois in the next three. Wins over Butler, Detroit, Iowa, Rutgers, Minnesota, Ohio State and USC came next, then a 1-2 run with a win over Nebraska in between losses to UCLA and Maryland. The Badgers would win their next five over Northwestern, Indiana, Iowa, Purdue and Illinois, but since then they’ve lost three of five. Those wins were over Washington and Minnesota. Otherwise the losses came versus Oregon, Michigan State and Penn State in that time. In total that gives the Badgers a 23-8 overall run through 31 games so far this season.

In the Penn State game over the weekend, the Badgers were up 40-35 going into the second half. Wisconsin was outscored 51-35 the rest of the way however, and ended up with a home loss 86-75 in the end. Tops in scoring were Steven Crowl (four rebounds; three assists) and John Blackwell (five rebounds; three assists; two steals), each with 19 points. John Tonje added 13 points with seven rebounds and two assists, while Kamari McGee put up 11 points with three rebounds in 26 minutes. Tops off the bench was Carter Gilmore with four points, one rebound and one assist in 26 minutes of action.

Why the Wisconsin Badgers will win

• Northwestern has lost each of its last seven day games against AP-ranked opponents.
• Wisconsin has won eight of its last nine day games against non-AP-ranked opponents at a neutral venue.
• Wisconsin has won the first half in each of its last seven day games against non-AP-ranked opponents at a neutral venue.

Why the Northwestern Wildcats will win

• Wisconsin has lost four of its last five games against the Big Ten Conference at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
• Northwestern has won four of its last five day games played at neutral venues.
• Northwestern has won the first half in six of its last seven games against the Big Ten Conference.

Total Points Facts

• Ten of Northwestern’s last 11 games at a neutral venue have produced a total of 140 or fewer points.
• Each of Wisconsin’s last four day games at a neutral venue have produced a total of 151+ points.

Matchup/League Facts

• Wisconsin ranks 1st among Division 1 teams for free throw percentage this season (83.6%).
• Wisconsin ranks 5th among Division 1 teams for opponent steals per game this season (4.9).
• Northwestern ranks T22nd among Division 1 teams for opponent steals per game this season (5.4).
• Northwestern ranks 22nd among Division 1 teams for turnovers per game this season (9.8).

Wisconsin vs Northwestern Prediction

I’ll lean toward Wisconsin, but I’m probably not touching this one. The Badgers hd a bad second half in a home loss to an average Penn State team over the weekend, shooting just 36.2 percent overall with 56.4 percent allowed on the other side. Wisconsin was killed by the 3-ball, as Penn State hit 11-of-19 (57.9 percent) from outside in that one. The Badgers did get 15 points off 13 Nittany Lions turnovers, but it wasn’t enough to keep pace. That makes a shaky 2-3 run over the last five games for Wisconsin, but overall they’ve been scoring quite well for pretty much the whole season.

These teams have met once so far this season, a 75-69 road win for the Badgers back on February 1. In that one Wisconsin started out slowly with a 31-25 deficit in the first half, but 50 points from there sealed the deal. The Badgers shot a tepid 41.5 percent from the field with 10 turnovers, but did hit a nice 13-of-32 (40.6 percent) from 3-point range with 18-of-21 (85.7 percent) from the line and a 38-29 rebounding advantage. Northwestern controlled the ball well (five turnovers) and didn’t shoot terribly (42.4 percent) but just couldn’t keep pace. I like a similar outcome in the tournament matchup.