NCAAB Nebraska vs. Indiana Odds, Picks, and Predictions (12/7/22)

Breaking into conference play early in the college basketball season, the Nebraska Cornhuskers head to Indiana to take on the Hoosiers in an early Big Ten showdown.  Indiana enters this game ranked 14th in the AP poll following a week that saw them dominating North Carolina at home, before going on the road and taking their first loss of the season against Rutgers in a hostile environment. 

Nebraska is unranked and enters this game 6-3, but they also enter this game off a big double digit win over top-ten team in Creighton.  Indiana desperately needs this win to get back on track to where they were as well as getting their first Big Ten win of the season.  It will be interesting to see if Nebraska can ride on the momentum of their win against Creighton and shock teams in the Big Ten this year.  Let’s break into this game’s matchup picks and predictions.

Nebraska vs. Indiana Betting Odds

Despite coming off a bad loss, bookmakers are expecting Indiana to make an impressive comeback win at home.  They are currently moneyline odd favorites at -747.  They are also spread line favorites of -12 points which is a big line.  Surprising, coming off of Nebraska’s big win but many are considering that game to be a fluke.  Nebraska was projected to be one of the bottom four teams in the Big Ten. 

They have already suffered losses to St. John’s, Oklahoma, and Memphis and all of those losses were by double digits.  They currently rank 77th in Kenpom rankings which is second worst in the Big Ten.  Indiana does come off a bad loss against Rutgers, but they were also missing 5-star freshman Jalen Hood-Schifino on a night they desperately needed shooters as big man Trayce Jackson-Davis was smothered on double teams all night.  His return at home will surely help the Hoosiers who are currently 11th in Kenpom.

The over/under total line is currently 135.5 points for this matchup.  Indiana currently averages 82.3 PPG while Nebraska averages 69.9 PPG.  Indiana also allows 60.5 PPG while Nebraska allows 63.9.

Nebraska vs. Indiana Picks & Predictions

My Pick: Indiana -12 (-110)

Coming off of a tough loss, I am taking the Hoosiers spread line in this game as I think they will make a statement in a big way in front of their home fans.  This team has a lot of aspirations so the first loss definitely stung for this team but Indiana also has Arizona and Kansas coming up.  Beating Nebraska will certainly help this team get confidence back up.  Nebraska got their biggest win of the season so far last week against Creighton.  Forward Darren Walker went off for 22 points in that matchup which was higher than his season average. 

I don’t know if you can expect that from him every game, especially now in this game going up against the Indiana big men in Race Thompson and Trayce Jackson-Davis.  Sam Griesel has been averaging 11.3 PPG and is one of the best players on their team this year.  The biggest way Nebraska will struggle in this game will be keeping up with Indiana offensively.  They have a stout defense but their offense averages nearly 15 points less per game than IU.  I could see this game being close in the first half, but I think the depth and returning players that were injured will make sure to give Indiana a win here by at least 15 or 20.

I like the over in this game as well.  These teams combined PPG certainly goes over the total that this game is placed at.  The only question is how much can Nebraska’s defense slow down the Hoosier offense.  I think this game could fall around the 150 total.

Key Matchup

Trayce Jackson-Davis vs. Nebraska

The biggest matchup I’m looking at is how Trayce Jackson-Davis bounces back after his rough performance against Rutgers.  He is a potential Player of the Year candidate and has been nearly unstoppable this year, but Rutgers seemed to have found some kryptonite for him as they continuously double and triple-teamed him in the paint affecting his shooting ability.  He was contained to 13 points on a 5-11 shooting night which is well below his expected average.

He is averaging 18.3 PPG this season.  Before his Rutgers night, he scored 21 points against North Carolina going up against another talented big man in Armando Bacot.  If Trayce can shake that Rutgers game off as just a hiccup and get back to playing his style of basketball, he should have no issue leading the Hoosiers to a win in this one.