Northwestern vs Michigan Prediction, Odds & Best Bet for February 2 (Northwestern's Defense Grinds Down Michigan)

Northwestern vs Michigan Game Info

• 2022-23 NCAA Basketball Regular Season Game
• Northwestern (15-6, 6-4 Big Ten) vs. Michigan (11-10, 5-5 Big Ten)
• Date: Thursday, February 2, 2023
• Time: 7:00 PM ET
• Venue: Welsh-Ryan Arena -- Evanston, Illinois

Thursday, Feb. 2's NCAA college basketball schedule features a Big Ten battle between the Northwestern Wildcats and Michigan Wolverines at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Michigan has been stuck in a rut, losing for the third time in the last four outings with Sunday's 83-61 loss to Penn State. Meanwhile, Northwestern is out for revenge after an 86-70 loss to Iowa put an end to the Wildcats' three-game winning streak.

Can Michigan reverse its fortunes with a respectable road effort? Or will Northwestern continue ascending the Big Ten standings?

Northwestern vs Michigan Odds & Spread

• All college basketball betting lines, odds and prop bets are from FanDuel Sportsbook.
• Moneyline: NWSTRN: (-162) | MICH: (+134)
• Spread: NWSTRN: -3.5 (-105) | MICH: +3.5 (-115)
• Total: 139.5 -- Over: (-105) | Under: (-115)

Northwestern enters this contest as the slim home favorite on the moneyline and spread per FanDuel Sportsbook's odds. This 7 p.m. ET clash also features an over/under of 139.5 points with the under being favored at -115 odds.

Northwestern vs Michigan Betting Trends

• Northwestern is 12-9-0 against the spread this year.
• As 4.5-point favorites or more, the Wildcats are 4-5 against the spread.
• This season, 10 of Northwestern's 21 games have hit the over.
• Against the spread, Michigan is 9-12-0 this season.
• The Wolverines have two wins ATS (2-3) as a 4.5-point underdog or greater this season.
• Michigan has played 21 games this year, and 12 of them have gone over the total.

Northwestern Rank	Northwestern AVG		Michigan AVG	Michigan Rank
220th	69.9	Points Scored	73.4	146th
23rd	62.2	Points Allowed	70.4	207th
98th	33.5	Rebounds	33.4	106th
114th	9.3	Off. Rebounds	7.8	254th
131st	7.9	3pt Made	7.6	165th
161st	13.5	Assists	12.7	220th
9th	9.6	Turnovers	9.6	9th

Northwestern vs Michigan Prediction & Pick

Michigan has left a lot to be desired as of late. The Wolverines are only averaging 63.7 points on 41.0% shooting over their last three games, maintaining a minus-7.7 scoring margin over that stretch. Furthermore, they've lost four straight road contests while being held to 61 or fewer points in three of those contests.

Michigan is going to have a tough time with a Northwestern team that owns a 10-3 record at Welsh-Ryan Arena thus far. The Wildcats also only allow 59.2 PPG at home and force opponents to turn the ball over 14.9 times per contest. Michigan doesn't turn the ball over a lot, but that won't stop Northwestern from pressing all night long.

With Michigan showing no signs of turning its season around, I'm going with Northwestern winning tonight.

Final Score Prediction: Northwestern: 69 | Michigan: 65

Northwestern vs Michigan Best Bet

When it comes to the best bet, I have my eye on Northwestern covering the 3.5-point spread. On top of being 3-1 ATS in their last four games, the Wildcats have covered the spread in four of their last five home games against the Wolverines.

Meanwhile, Michigan is 1-5-1 ATS in its last seven games and has failed to cover the spread in four of its last five road games against Big Ten rivals. With how well the Wildcats have played at Welsh-Ryan Arena, Northwestern shouldn't have an issue covering as the -3.5 favorited.

Bet: Northwestern -3.5 (-105)

Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.