Wisconsin vs Liberty Prediction, Odds & Best Bet for March 19 NIT Tournament Game (Expect Strong Defense)

Updated: Sep 10, 5:00pm UTC

Wisconsin vs Liberty Game Info

2022-23 NIT Tournament Game
Wisconsin (18-14) vs. Liberty (27-8)
Date: Sunday, March 19, 2023
Time: 12:00 PM ET
Venue: Kohl Center -- Madison, Wisconsin
Coverage: ESPN2

The 2022-23 NIT Tournament's second round continues on Sunday, March 19. One matchup that stands out is a clash between the Wisconsin Badgers and Liberty Flames at 12 p.m. ET.

Wisconsin hardly broke a sweat in its 81-62 win over Bradley, mostly due to Steven Crowl's career-high 36-point effort. Meanwhile, after a back-and-fourth first half, Liberty grinded to the second round with a 62-57 effort against Villanova.

Will it be Wisconsin or Liberty that advances to the quarterfinals?

Wisconsin vs Liberty Odds & Spread

All college basketball betting lines, odds and prop bets are from FanDuel Sportsbook.
Moneyline: WISC: (-138) | LIBRTY: (+115)
Spread: WISC: -2.5 (-110) | LIBRTY: +2.5 (-110)
Total: 128.5 -- Over: (-110) | Under: (-110)

Wisconsin enters this contest as a slim favorite on the moneyline and spread per FanDuel Sportsbook's odds. This 12 p.m. ET clash also features an over/under of 128.5 points with both sides available at -110 odds.

Wisconsin vs Liberty Betting Trends

Wisconsin has beaten the spread 15 times in 31 games.
As 2.5-point favorites or more, the Badgers are 3-8 against the spread.
Wisconsin has seen 16 of its 31 games hit the over.
Liberty has 19 wins in 32 games against the spread this season.
The Flames are winless ATS (0-3) when playing as at least 2.5-point underdogs this year.
Out of Liberty's 32 games so far this season, 16 have hit the over.

Wisconsin Rank	Wisconsin AVG		Liberty AVG	Liberty Rank
326th	65.4	Points Scored	74.8	102nd
31st	63.8	Points Allowed	60.5	7th
302nd	29.3	Rebounds	31.0	231st
322nd	6.6	Off. Rebounds	6.9	303rd
91st	8.1	3pt Made	10.5	4th
291st	11.7	Assists	16.1	18th
1st	7.9	Turnovers	9.9	22nd

Wisconsin vs Liberty Prediction & Pick

After struggling to beat Villanova, I don't like Liberty's odds this week. On top of having the home-court advantage, Wisconsin has also rattled off five straight victories against ASUN opponents. The Badgers also have a 76.5% winning percentage as the favorite this season, whereas the Flames lost the three games where they were underdogs.

Liberty's offense isn't anything special, so I imagine it'll have issues scoring against Wisconsin's No. 27-ranked scoring defense (No. 63.8 PPG). The Badgers' offense might not be anything special either, but they turn the ball over less than any other team in the country (12.9%). As long as they don't make any huge mistakes, they should win.

Final Score Prediction: Wisconsin: 65 | Liberty: 62

Wisconsin vs Liberty Best Bet

With neither team performing well against the spread, I'm looking at the total for the best bet — specifically the UNDER. After all, Wisconsin has seen the UNDER hit in seven of its last eight home games while Liberty has experienced it in each of its last two outings, seeing an average of 126 points scored in those contests.

With the UNDER also being 10-4 in the Flames' last 14 games on a Sunday and the Badgers owning a world-class defense, I don't expect a ton of points at Kohl Center.

Bet: Under 128.5 (-110)

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.