Northwestern vs Minnesota Prediction 2/25/25 College Basketball Picks

The Northwestern Wildcats and the Minnesota Golden Gophers meet Tuesday in college basketball action from Williams Arena. Here’s a Northwestern vs Minnesota prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Northwestern vs Minnesota pick. We will examine: 

The Northwestern Wildcats’ recent form and player performance

The Minnesota Golden Gophers’ recent form and player performance 

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Northwestern Wildcats

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Minnesota Golden Gophers

Recent betting trends in games played between Northwestern and Minnesota

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Northwestern vs Minnesota game

Northwestern Wildcats Betting Preview

The Wildcats started out the year pretty well but it’s been a struggle in the win column since the calendar year flipped to 2025. Northwestern opened on a 10-3 stretch though, taking losses in that time to only Dayton, Butler, and Iowa. Since then the Wildcats have hit a 4-10 run over their last 14 outings. The wins in that time came versus Maryland, Indiana, USC, and Ohio State. Otherwise, it was losses to Penn State, Purdue, Michigan State, Michigan, Illinois, Rutgers, Wisconsin, Washington, Oregon, and Nebraska. In total across the first 27 games of the season that keeps the Wildcats above the .500 mark at 14-13 overall. 

Northwestern jumped out to a 31-24 halftime lead in their Thursday game versus Ohio State. The Wildcats got better from there on a 39-25 run and took the eventual win 70-49 in the end. Leading the team in scoring was Nick Martinelli with 18 points, five rebounds, and three turnovers in 33 minutes of work. Ty Berry notched 15 points with six rebounds and a steal, while KJ Windham came off the bench for 15 points, three boards, and two assists. 

Minnesota Golden Gophers Betting Preview

Over on the Minnesota side, they’ve had a choppy year but have also managed to stay above the .500 mark themselves. The Gophers opened on an 8-5 stretch across their first 13 outings, posting losses in games versus North Texas, Wichita State, Wake Forest, Michigan State, and Indiana in that time. A 3-6 run came next with wins over Michigan, Iowa, and Oregon amid losses to Purdue, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Maryland, Michigan State, and Washington. The next four were a 3-1 run with wins over Penn State, USC, and UCLA (and a loss to Illinois) for a 14-12 overall run across the first 26 games of the 2024-25 campaign. 

Matched up against Penn State over the weekend, the Golden Gophers were down by two points at the break. Minnesota was outscored 41-34 the rest of the way and limped to the home loss 69-60. Topping the scorers was Femi Odukale with 15 points, four assists and two rebounds. Dawson Garcia added a double-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists in 38 minutes. 

Why the Minnesota Golden Gophers will win

• Northwestern has lost each of its last nine Tuesday night road games against the Big Ten Conference.
• Minnesota has won four of its last five night games.
• The home team has won the first half in four of the last five games between Northwestern and Minnesota.

Why the Northwestern Wildcats will win

• Minnesota has lost four of its last five home night games against the Big Ten Conference.
• The road team has won seven of Minnesota’s last nine games.

Northwestern vs Minnesota Prediction 

I’ll just stay with Minnesota here. On Saturday versus Penn State, the Gophers didn’t play very well though, so they’ll need a bounce-back effort. Minnesota shot just 33.9 percent from the field in that one with 5-of-23 (21.7 percent) from 3-point range. On defense, the Gophers gave up 45.7 percent shooting and lost the rebounding battle 36-34. Minnesota isn’t scoring very well right now. They’ve been below 70 points in six of their last seven games—a 3-4 run. 

As for Northwestern, they’re coming off a nice game versus a middling Ohio State team. The Wildcats hit 46.3 percent from the field in that one with a stellar 18-of-19 from the line and a 36-27 rebounding edge. The 3-point shooting was pretty ugly (2-of-14 for 14.3 percent) however, and the 11 turnovers didn’t help. I could see Northwestern staying close here if they play well. It should be a pretty entertaining matchup overall.