Liberty Flames vs Wisconsin Badgers 3/19/23 – On Sunday afternoon, No. 2 seed Wisconsin will face No. 3 seed Liberty in the second round of the 2023 NIT bracket. The Flames advanced with a 62-57 victory against Villanova to cover the spread as 4-point favorites and Wisconsin followed up with an 81-62 triumph against Bradley in their opening round matchup. Wisconsin is being widely predicted as the favorite to win this game by college basketball online betting experts.
Liberty Flames vs Wisconsin Badgers
Date & Time: Sunday, March 19, 2023 at 12:00 PM ET
Location: Kohl Center
TV: ESP2
Liberty Flames vs Wisconsin Badgers Betting Odds
Liberty
Moneyline: +112
Spread: +2 (-110)
Total: 128 over (-110)
Wisconsin
Moneyline: -132
Spread: -2 (-110)
Total: 128 under (-110)
Liberty Flames vs Wisconsin Badgers Analysis
Liberty University Flames had an outstanding regular season, with five of its eight losses coming against teams in the NCAA Tournament field. They started fast, racing out to a 10-1 record in Atlantic Sun play and taking control of first place in the standings with a 15-3 record. But Kennesaw State came back and earned them home-court advantage for the conference tournament with an 88-81 victory on Feb. 16. In an exciting conference title game versus Liberty, Kennesaw State pulled away with a 67-66 victory for their first ever trip to the NCAA Tournament – earning them their first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament. On Tuesday night, the Flames put that disappointment behind them with a 62-57 victory against Villanova at home. Darius McGhee hit five 3-pointers en route to a 26-point performance. Zach Cleveland had one of his biggest games yet as a freshman forward, scoring six points, grabbing 12 rebounds and dishing out five assists. Liberty has been on fire this season, ranking No. 13 nationally in effective field goal percentage (55.4). Wisconsin comes into this game ranked No. 24 in adjusted efficiency, and Liberty is led by conference player of the year McGhee with 22.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. Senior forward Kyle Rode also contributes double figures with 10.8 points and 3.5 assists per game.
Wisconsin Badgers had an impressive 11-2 start this season and appeared poised for an NCAA Tournament run. But then they lost six of their next seven games, never recovering from that setback. After beating Western Michigan and Minnesota back-to-back on Jan. 3, Wisconsin had its NCAA Tournament hopes officially dashed when Ohio State upset them at the beginning of the Big Ten Tournament; oddsmakers weren’t convinced Wisconsin cared about making the NIT, making them only 3-point favorites against Bradley in the opening round of that tournament. On Tuesday night, Wisconsin easily defeated the Braves 81-62 behind Steven Crowl’s career-high 36 points. He made 12 of 16 from the floor, 5 of 7 from 3-point range and made all seven of his free throws for a decisive advantage. Wisconsin has relied on its defense all season, holding Bradley to just 5 of 23 attempts from 3-point range on Tuesday. As one of the worst major-conference shooting teams ranked No. 275 in effective field goal percentage at 48.6. Liberty leads the nation in offensive rebounding and boasts the lowest turnover rate of any team in America – which proved a big advantage against Bradley as they only turned the ball over three times. Liberty leads all other colleges in defensive rebounding and ranks No. 45 overall for adjusted efficiency ratings.
Liberty Flames vs Wisconsin Badgers Against the Spread
Over is 6-0 in Flames last 6 games following a ATS win. Flames are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 road games vs. a team with a winning home record. Flames are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 road games. Flames are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than 0.600. Flames are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games following an ATS win.
Under is 5-0 in Badgers last 5 home games vs. a team with a losing road record. Badgers are 0-5-1 ATS in their last 6 games following an ATS win. Badgers are 4-0-1 ATS in their last 5 games vs. a team with a winning % above 0.600. Badgers are 1-9-1 ATS in their last 11 games following a straight up win. Under is 8-1 in Badgers last 9 home games.
Liberty Flames vs Wisconsin Badgers Free Pick
Liberty relies too heavily on their offense to feel confident about backing them on the road in this game. They took advantage of their home game against Villanova, but the road aspect makes this contest much tougher as they have only covered the spread once in seven road games since 2015. Wisconsin is one of the best defensive teams in America and won’t let unforced turnovers get in their way of success. They took this event seriously when they easily defeated Bradley earlier this week. Wisconsin will have a huge size advantage which should limit Liberty’s defensive rebounding numbers as per NCAAB betting lines Wisconsin has won five straight games against Atlantic Sun teams.
Free Pick: Wisconsin Badgers -2 (-110)
