Sam Avellone
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The Indiana Hoosiers and the Nebraska Cornhuskers will meet on the hardwood on Friday night in what should be a fascinating Big Ten showdown. Friday’s college basketball card is light given the fact that it’s finals week, so this is the marquee matchup of the day. Because of that, we at Pickswise felt it was a great opportunity for a Same Game Parlay. I chose my 3 favorite bets on this game and parlayed them together for juicy odds, in hopes of starting the weekend off with a nice return on investment.
Let’s get to the picks, and make sure you check Pickswise daily for college basketball picks and CBB predictions on all of the biggest games this season.
Nebraska ML (-194)
Indiana TT Under 74.5 (-112)
Brice Williams (NEB) over 16.5 points (-110)
Indiana vs Nebraska Same Game Parlay odds: +296
Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook at the time of publishing
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Nebraska Cornhuskers ML over Indiana Hoosiers (-194)
If you read my full game prediction for Indiana vs Nebraska, then you already know I like the Cornhuskers to cover. However, I’m going to be a little bit “safer” with his parlay and take the money line rather than the spread. This is a great get-right spot for the Cornhuskers, who were embarrassed at Michigan State in their Big Ten opener over the weekend. Now back at home, Nebraska should look much better. The ‘Huskers have been excellent at home since the start of last season, and they find themselves in a historically profitable spot playing at home off a road loss as a Big Ten team. They are a physical bunch and excel defensively, especially around the rim — an area in which Indiana wants to score most. Moreover, this is Indiana’s first true road game of the season.
Indiana team total Under 74.5 (-112)
Indiana’s offense has been clicking lately, but — as previously mentioned — this is the Hoosiers’ first true road game of the season against a very good defensive team in Nebraska. In fact, the Cornhuskers are the most efficient defense the Hoosiers will have seen since their games against Gonzaga and Louisville — both double-digit losses in which Indiana failed to score more than 73 points. Indiana relies heavily on its offensive production at the rim with a talented group of forwards in Malik Reneau, Oumar Ballo and Mackenzie Mgbako, but Nebraska is built to take away those looks. The Cornhuskers allow just 16.1% of opposing shots at the rim, which is going to put more pressure on Indiana’s jump shooters. They also excel at forcing turnovers, which figures to be an issue for an Indiana team that averages 14 turnovers per game and ranks 286th in turnover rate. My biggest concern for this leg is the pace of this game, as Indiana and Nebraska are both top 80 in average possession length. However, I think Nebraska’s defense is efficient enough to force Indiana into tough shots and prevent second-chance opportunities.
Brice Williams (NEB) Over 16.5 points (-110)
This has all the makings of a Brice Williams game. Williams leads the team in usage rate and takes 25.2% of Nebraska’s shots when he is on the floor. He figures to have a good matchup in this one, as I expect Mgbako to be the primary defender on Williams while Reneau focuses on Juwan Gary. Per Evan Miya, Mgbako is the worst defender on Indiana’s squad outside of Luke Goode — who is likely to spend time guarding Williams, as well. In 3 games against Indiana last season, Williams averaged 18.67 points per game with most of his damage coming from the 3-point line and the free-throw line. I’m expecting much of the same tonight, as Williams makes 38% of his perimeter shots and 92.5% of his free throws.
