The Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-13, 1-9 Big Ten) will try to take down the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (14-7, 6-4) in Piscataway Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. ET (Big Ten Network). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Minnesota vs. Rutgers odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
Minnesota is on a 5-game losing streak since beating Ohio State 70-67 as 14-point underdogs on Jan. 12. This streak has seen a pair of 4-point losses to Michigan and Indiana while also losing by 18 to Illinois and 20 to Northwestern and only scoring 39 points in a loss to Purdue.
Minnesota has been the worst team in the Big Ten the entire season and Rutgers will look to use its 7th-ranked team defense (58.7 points) to hold down a terrible Minnesota offense, which ranks 349th in the nation at 62.2 PPG.
The Golden Gophers rank outside the top 300 in FG percentage, 3-points percentage and free throw percentage. This does not bode well against a Scarlet Knights team whose defense ranks 5th in opponents FG percentage and 27th in opponents 3-point percentage. Rutgers should be able to swallow up the Minnesota offense and hold them to minimal points.