Check out our free Indiana State vs Northern Iowa pick and preview for this NCAA Basketball game in Cedar Falls. See who we like to win and cover the spread in this College Basketball matchup.
Indiana State vs Northern Iowa Pick & Preview: Saturday, February 11th Betting Odds
Sycamores vs Panthers Matchup at a Glance
- Sport: NCAAB
- Teams: Indiana State Sycamores at Northern Iowa Panthers
- Where: Cedar Falls at McLeod Center
- Date: Saturday, February 11th
- Betting Odds: Indiana State -3, INDST -158 | NIOWA +130 O/U 145.5
Sycamores Preview:
Heading into today’s matchup vs Northern Iowa, the Indiana State Sycamores will be taking the floor for the 27th time this season and have an overall record of 17-9. On the road, the Sycamores will be playing their 11th game of the season, having gone 6-5. This season, Indiana State has been favored to win in 20 games, sitting with a mark of 14-6. For today’s contest, Indiana State has a betting line set -3 points in their favor.
Indiana State will be counting on another strong performance from the team’s leading scorer Courvoisier McCauley who is averaging 16.48 points per game for the Sycamores. McCauley is also important to the team’s ability to score on the perimeter. So far, he leads the team in 3-point shots made. Also key to the Sycamores’ offensive game plan is the play of Cameron Henry who has hit 52.3% of his field goal attempts on his way to averaging 10.72 points per game.
Offensive production has been hard to come by for Indiana State this season, as they are currently ranked 226th in college basketball at 70.5 points per game. A major reason for low scoring totals is the fact that they have played at a below average pace, and have struggled to knock down outside shots. As a team, the Sycamores’ 3-point shooting percentage sits at just 33.3%, placing them 299th in the NCAA.
Panthers Preview:
Northern Iowa heads into this matchup having played 25 games and have an overall record sitting at 12-13. Currently, the Panthers have been the home team 13 times, sitting with a record of 8-5. So far, the Panthers have been the underdog 12 times, going 3-9 straight up. Heading into today’s contest, they are the +3 underdogs on the spread.
Northern Iowa will be counting on another strong performance from the team’s leading scorer Bowen Born who is averaging 18.52 points per game for the Panthers. Born is also important to the team’s ability to score on the perimeter. So far, he leads the team in 3-point shots made. Also key to the Panthers’ offensive game plan is the play of Tytan Anderson who has hit 47.9% of his field goal attempts on his way to averaging 12.6 points per game.
On offense, Northern Iowa is scoring a rate similar to the NCAA average at 74.4 points per game. This figure has come despite struggling to knock down shots from outside. Through 25 games, they have only hit 35.0% of their 3-point field goal attempts. For the season, 42.81% of their shots have come from beyond the arc.
Free Spread Prediction: Northern Iowa Panthers +3
A key to this matchup, will be 3-point shooting. Coming into the game, both Indiana State and Northern Iowa are excellent 3-point shooting teams, averaging 8.71 and 8.37 made 3’s per game, respectively. In terms of the odds, we like the Northern Iowa Panthers to cover as +3 point dogs. Look for their defense to do a good enough job closing out on the Sycamores’ outside shooters to make things difficult for Indiana State. At +3 we like the chances of Northern Iowa covering the spread as underdogs.
