Indiana @ Nebraska
Recommendation: Indiana +4
For much of last season the Nebraska Cornhuskers provided tremendous value. They were a point spread covering machine and continued to surprise bettors with how good they were. This year the betting markets have caught up and have possibly even overreacted. Nebraska isn’t as good a team as they’ve been lined, and this is a prime example that we can take advantage of.
Indiana is a fundamentally sound team that can flat out shoot the basketball. They’ve won 6 of their last 8 ballgames and are averaging 86.4 points per contest. Yogi Ferrell continues to impress with his dominant play, and James Blackmon leads the team in scoring. Essentially every player on the court has the ability to create their own shot and either score or get to the foul line. The Hoosiers can really score in a hurry, as their currently shooting 41.7% from long range. Tom Crean has really done a nice job of getting his guys to buy into his philosophy.
Nebraska is above average in many categories, but I’m having a hard time finding areas where they are truly elite, and thus worthy of being a favorite. Terran Petteway is a nice asset for the team. They play above average defense. The difference here is that the Cornhuskers really have trouble scoring. They average just 67.7 points which is a huge discrepancy here. I just don’t see a way that they’ll be able to keep up with the Hoosiers. Take Indiana.