Northwestern @ Minnesota picks

Northwestern went from a bottom-half defensive team in the Big Ten to one of its stingiest down the stretch. The Wildcats upped it adjusted defensive efficiency rating to No. 3 in the conference over the final five games of the regular season, holding those foes to an average of 63.2 points on 40.1% shooting. Minnesota enters the Big Ten tournament as the lowest ranked offense among the 15 qualifiers and has really struggled to score down the stretch. The Gophers haven’t cracked 70 points in any of their last seven contests, even with an overtime period in the season finale against Rutgers. Game models call for a NU victory on Wednesday, with the majority of those projections calling for a victory of three points or more. My number comes out to Northwestern by four points and the matchup breakdown gives a strong nod to the Wildcats as well.