Northern Iowa vs Liberty 12/22/21 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Liberty Flames and Northern Iowa Panthers will square off at the Stan Sheriff Center this Wednesday afternoon in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic.

The Liberty Flames won their 2^nd straight game and improved to 7-4 on the season after defeating the East Carolina Pirates, 74-64, this past Friday. Liberty trailed by a 35-32 margin at halftime, however, the Flames were outstanding on both ends of the court in the 2^nd half and pulled away after a 9-0 run gave Liberty a 70-57 lead with just 2:35 left in regulation. Liberty shot 45.9% from the field & 33.3% from beyond the arc while holding East Carolina to just 37.9% shooting from the field 7 26.3% from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Flames was Darius McGhee who had 27 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks, & 1 steal.

On the season, Liberty is averaging 69.7 ppg on 46.4% shooting from the field. The Flames are averaging 9.9 three-pointers per game on 35.4% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Liberty has been led by Darius McGhee (19.5 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.6 spg), Keegan McDowell (10.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.3 apg), Shiloh Robinson (7.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg), & Kyle Rode (4.6 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.5 apg).

Defensively, Liberty is allowing their opponents to average 67.9 ppg on 43.3% shooting from the field. The Flames have a rebound margin of 2.3 and a turnover margin of -2.0.

The Northern Iowa Panthers won their 2^nd straight game and improved to 4-5 on the season after defeating the Marshall Thundering Herd, 75-60, this past Saturday. Northern Iowa was outstanding defensively against the high-scoring Marshall offense and was able to pull away in the 2^nd half after taking a 69-54 lead with 6:41 left in regulation. Northern Iowa shot 43.5% from the field & 30.8% from be6yond the arc while allowing Marshall to shoot 40.0% from the field & 28.6% from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Panthers was AJ Green who had 29 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, & 2 steals.

On the season, Northern Iowa is averaging 71.3 ppg on 44.3% shooting from the field. The Panthers are averaging 9.3 three-pointers per game on 35.6% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Northern Iowa has been led by AJ green (18.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.1 apg), Noah Carter (10.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.0 apg), Nate Heise (9.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.2 apg, 1.3 spg), & Trae Berhow (8.2 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.0 apg, 1.1 spg).

Defensively, Northern Iowa is allowing their opponents to average 67.9 ppg on 43.3% shooting from the field. The Panthers have a rebound margin of 2.3 and a turnover margin of -2.0.

The Flames are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 Wednesday games, however, are just 3-8 ATS in their last 11 games overall. The Panthers are 2-5-1 ATS in their last 8 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600 & 8-23-1 ATS in their last 32 games overall.

Liberty has been led by their defense this season which ranks 6^th in scoring defense & 5^th in defensive FG%, however, the Flames have had trouble putting up points at times this season and currently rank just 235^th in scoring offense. Northern Iowa comes into this game ranked 194^th in scoring offense, t-52^nd in three-pointers made per game, & 170^th in scoring defense.

Liberty is a very solid team, however, I was impressed by what Northern Iowa did defensively recently against Marshall and as I thin AJ Green and the Northern Iowa offense will have some success in this one, I’m taking Northern Iowa to cover this small spread. Good Luck!