Wisconsin vs UCLA Picks, Predictions & Player Props to Target (Big Ten Quarterfinal)

• The #4 UCLA Bruins are slight underdogs to the #5 Wisconsin Badgers on Friday in the Big Ten Tournament
• UCLA won a razor-thin decision over the Badgers at home in their lone regular-season game
• Below, see my favorite Wisconsin vs UCLA picks and predictions, plus the best available odds

Both are safely in the NCAA Tournament field as at-large teams but the Wisconsin Badgers (24-8, 13-7 Big Ten, 20-12 ATS) and UCLA Bruins (22-9, 13-7 Big Ten, 18-12-1 ATS) can boost their resumes on Friday when they meet in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Big Ten Tournament. As the #4 seed, UCLA received a double-bye to the quarters while #5 Wisconsin saw off a decent challenge from #13 Northwestern (70-63) last night. The Badgers are Bruins are slated to tip-off from Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis at 2:30 pm ET on Friday with the Big Ten Network providing coverage.

Wisconsin vs UCLA Picks

• Wisconsin moneyline (-122) at FanDuel
• John Tonje over 17.5 points (-115) at bet365

Sascha Paruk’s 2024-25 NCAAM betting record: 48-35 (+9.58 units). All wagers 1 unit unless expressly stated otherwise.

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While the Badgers had to play last night while UCLA rested, I still like Wisconsin to come out on top. The Badgers rate at least four spots higher at all analytics sites (KenPom, Haslametrics, Torvik) and, after Thursday’s win over Northwestern, are now 3-0 in neutral-court games this season. They also beat UCF (86-70) and Pitts (81-75) at the Greenbrier Tip-Off in West Virginia back in November.

Last night, John Tonje led the way with 18 points and seven rebounds for the Badgers while Nolan Winter added 18 and six.

UCLA is 0-1 in neutral-site games this season, losing to North Carolina in New York in late December. Mick Cronin’s team was also a concerning 1-4 in neutral-site games last season.

The Bruins managed to pick up a two-point win over the Badgers when the teams met in January in LA, but the Badgers were uncharacteristically careless with the ball in that one. They finished -7 in turnover differential, committing 13 turnovers. For the season, the rank 19th in all of DI in turnover percentage at 14.3%. UCLA’s defense has been great at turning teams over all season (23.0%, fifth in DI) but I expect the Badgers to show a lot more composure without the raucous Pauley Pavilion crowd to contend with.

UCLA also shot seven more free throws, which is unlikely to repeat on a neutral court.

On offense, the Badgers found a ton of success against UCLA, shooting 51.0% from the floor nad 50% from three. John Tonje had 24 points on 8-of-9 shooting.

The Public’s Wisconsin vs UCLA Picks

Friday’s college basketball public betting trends show the public hammering the Badgers to win, with 86% of moneyline handle on Wisconsin. But, curiously, 63% of ATS handle is on the Bruins at the moment, despite the spread being a minimal 1.5 points.

The public was also strongly leaning to the over with respect to the game total. 88% of O/U money was on over 141.5 at the time of publication.

WISC vs UCLA Player Props

Friday’s Wisconsin vs UCLA player props are from bet365 at 9:35 am ET. New users can claim SBD’s bet365 bonus code upon sign-up.

The Wisconsin vs UCLA player props are stacked with options; six players from each team are listed, in something of a rarity for college basketball. The two highest point totals are both on the Wisconsin side: John Tonje (18.9 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 1.7 APG) at 17.5 O/U and John Blackwell (15.4 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 2.2 APG) at 15.5 O/U. Tyler Bilodeau (14.0 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 1.5 APG) has the highest point total among UCLA players at just 13.5.

Bruins “guard” Kobe Johnson, more accurately described as a 6’6 wing, has the highest rebound total at 6.5. No one on the board has an assist total higher than 2.5.

Best Available Wisconsin vs UCLA Odds

The Wisconsin vs UCLA spread is an identical WIS -1.5 at all sportsbooks, and as of 9:47 am ET, all books had -110 odds both ways, leaving no discrepancies for bettors to take advantage of.

The same is not the case for the moneyline. FanDuel currently has the best price on a Wisconsin victory at -122 while Caesars has the longest odds on a UCLA win at +115.

There is a half-point range in the game total. Over bettors can get the number as low as 141.0 (-110) at bet365. Under bettors can get the total as high as 141.5 (-110) at DraftKings.