The Wisconsin Badgers are taking on the No. 10 Michigan State Spartans on Friday evening, with tip-off set for 7:00 p.m. at the Kohl Center on FOX.
The Badgers are coming off an impressive 92-90 road victory over the No. 8 Illinois Fighting Illini on Tuesday, where they found a way to overcome another double-digit deficit in the second half to send the game to overtime and eventually win.
The schedule doesn’t lighten up, though, as Wisconsin will get a rested Michigan State team on Friday that is also
coming off a win over Illinois from last weekend. Given that the game is at home and that the Badgers just beat the Illini, it wouldn’t have been a surprise to see Wisconsin as a slight favorite on Friday.
But the Badgers opened as 1.5-point underdogs, and that line has grown to 2.5 in favor of the Spartans. The over/under has also bumped up from 145.5 points to 147.5 points. Wisconsin was a double-digit underdog against Illinois, but pulled off the upset there. We’ll see whether they can do the same against Michigan State here on Friday.
The Spartans have seen some adversity recently, losing the Michigan-Michigan State battle at home by 12 before falling to Minnesota on the road by three. But they had an impressive bounce back with an 85-82 victory over Illinois, and had six days to prepare for the Badgers.
The Badgers have won three of the last four meetings against Sparty. Will they prevail again on Friday evening? That would be a huge boost for their resume.
