Check out our free Ohio vs Northern Illinois pick and preview for this NCAA Basketball game in Dekalb. See who we like to win and cover the spread in this College Basketball matchup.
Ohio vs Northern Illinois Pick & Preview: Tuesday, February 7th Betting Odds
Bobcats vs Huskies Matchup at a Glance
- Sport: NCAAB
- Teams: Ohio Bobcats at Northern Illinois Huskies
- Where: Dekalb at NIU Convocation Center
- Date: Tuesday, February 7th
- Betting Odds: Ohio -3.5, OHIO -176 | NILL +142 O/U 149.5
Bobcats Preview:
The Ohio Bobcats head into today’s game in what will be their 24th game of the season, posting a record of 12-11. On the road, the Bobcats will be playing their 11th game of the season, having gone 2-9. This season, Ohio has been favored to win in 13 games, sitting with a mark of 9-4. For today’s contest, Ohio has a betting line set -3.5 points in their favor.
Dwight Wilson comes into today’s game as the Bobcats’ leading scorer at 16.05 points per contest. Not only has Wilson been key to the team’s scoring efforts, but he is Ohio’s top rebounder at 9.73 boards per contest. Behind Wilson, the team has benefited from the strong play of Jaylin Hunter, who is second on the team in scoring at 11.52 points per game. Overall, he has hit 42.2% of his shots and is adding 3.78 boards per game.
On offense, Ohio is scoring a rate similar to the NCAA average at 73.9 points per game. This figure has come despite struggling to knock down shots from outside. Through 23 games, they have only hit 34.0% of their 3-point field goal attempts. For the season, 45.53% of their shots have come from beyond the arc.
Huskies Preview:
The Northern Illinois Huskies head into today’s game in what will be their 24th game of the season, posting a record of 10-13. So far this season, Northern Illinois has played 7 games at home, sitting with a record of 3-4. For the season, Northern Illinois has been the underdog in 16 games, sitting with a mark of 6-10. Currently, the oddsmakers have the lines set with the Huskies being +3.5 point underdogs.
Northern Illinois will be counting on another strong performance from the team’s leading scorer David Coit who is averaging 15.96 points per game for the Huskies. Coit 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 Huskies’ offensive game plan is the play of Keshawn Williams who has hit 47.2% of his field goal attempts on his way to averaging 17.87 points per game.
Offensive production has been hard to come by for Northern Illinois this season, as they are currently ranked 400th in college basketball at 64.1 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 Huskies’ 3-point shooting percentage sits at just 31.8%, placing them 375th in the NCAA.
Free Spread Prediction: Northern Illinois Huskies +3.5
Our betting model for this contest between the Northern Illinois Huskies and the Ohio Bobcats has identified Northern Illinois at +3.5 as today’s best bet. Although the Huskies are the betting underdogs, we like how they have been performing vs the spread at home. Over the school’s last 10 home games, they have a record of 6-4 vs the spread. Although Ohio has shot well from behind the arc this season, look for the Huskies’ defense to put the clamps down with their 3-point defense. Our recommendation is to jump on Northern Illinois to cover as +3.5 point home underdogs.
