Liberty vs. Wisconsin prediction and odds for NIT second round

Liberty and Wisconsin meet in the second round of the 2023 NIT Tournament in Madison on Sunday afternoon.

These are two of the slowest teams in the country in terms of adjusted tempo making this likely a grinding effort that will come down to the final possessions given the limited amount of possessions, and that’s reflected in the point spread.

How should we bet this Sunday afternoon matchup?

Here are the odds:

Liberty vs. Wisconsin odds, spread and total

Liberty vs. Wisconsin prediction and pick

As mentioned above, both teams play incredibly slow, each outside the top 300 in KenPom’s adjusted tempo metric. Neither team generates second chances, get to the free throw line or turn the ball over, so this should be a game that has essentially a running clock with limited stoppages.

However, the difference comes down to offensive efficiency, where Liberty thrives. The team is paced by lead guard Darius McGhee, the third highest usage player in the country and the fourth leading scorer at over 22 points per game. The Flames are a top 50 three-point shooting team, which is going to draw the Badgers out of the paint and get McGhee and co. going downhill, where the Flames thrives as the 11th best two-point offense in the country.

On the other side, Wisconsin is an incredibly poor offense, based around late shot clock 3-point shots and post ups. However, Liberty’s compact defense that is top 100 in near rim field goal percentage allowed, per Haslametrics.

I don’t see much separating the two teams, nor do I see any home court advantage for the Badgers at the Kohl Center in this type of situation of an NIT second round game. I’ll grab the points with similar styles clashing.

Track all of Reed’s bets at Betstamp HERE!

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.