Michigan vs. Iowa prediction and odds for Thursday, January 12 (Bank on plenty of points)

The Iowa Hawkeyes are 10-6 overall, but their struggles in the Big 10 have left them near the bottom of the conference. Meanwhile, the Michigan Wolverines are just 9-6, but their 3-1 record in conference play has them third, behind Purdue and Michigan State. The Wolverines just lost to the Spartans on Saturday, 59-53, but expect plenty of points when they take on Iowa tonight.

Let’s get into the odds for this Thursday night Big 10 matchup in Iowa City.

Michigan vs. Iowa odds, spread and total

Michigan vs. Iowa prediction and pick

Under Fran McCaffery, Iowa has always had a great offense and this year is no different, they’re 17th in offensive efficiency with Kris Murray stepping up as the leading scorer. Surprisingly this isn’t a very good shooting team, they’re 231st in three-point percentage and 168th in field goal percentage. They rely on playing with pace to score their 81.4 points a night, but their defense suffers.

The Hawkeyes are 136rd in defensive efficiency and they’ve struggled with bigs like they’re facing in Hunter Dickinson tonight. Last week, Trayce Jackson-Davis put up 30, but Iowa still managed to win 91-89. Filip Rebraca is really the team’s only option to stop opposing bigs down low and he struggled with foul trouble against Indiana.

I like teams that play with pace so betting Iowa is enticing for me, but it’s too many points for me to take knowing how poorly the Hawkeyes defend. The over is 6-1 in their last seven games and though they’ve only played on the road twice this season, Juwan Howard’s teams are 15-5 to the over in their last 20 road games.