Belmont vs Northern Iowa 1/14/23 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Northern Iowa Panthers and the Belmont Bruins meet in college basketball action from the Curb Event Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Northern Iowa Panthers will try to add to their current four-game win streak after a 75-67 win over Murray State last time out. Bowen Born leads the Panthers in scoring and assists with 19.9 PPG and 2.9 APG while Tytan Anderson has 13.9 PPG with a team-high 9.8 RPG to lead the Panthers on the glass. Nate Heise has 12 PPG to round out the group double-digit scorers for the Panthers up to this point in the year. As a team, Northern Iowa is averaging 69.9 points per game on 45.4% shooting from the field, 34% from three point range and 66.2% from the foul line this season.

The Belmont Bruins will try to build on their three-game win streak after a 74-59 win over Valparaiso last time out. Ben Sheppard leads the Bruins in scoring, rebounding and assists with 17.8 PPG and 3.5 APG along with 4.9 RPG while Drew Friberg has 12.6 PPG with 3.8 RPG and Cade Tyson has 13.1 PPG and 4.5 RPG to make up the trio of double-digit scorers for Belmont up to this point in the season. As a team, Belmont is averaging 74.2 PPG on 46.1% shooting from the field, 39.8% from three and 70.3% from the foul line this season.

Northern Iowa is 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games overall and 4-0 ATS in their last 4 Saturday games while the over is 32-11 in their last 43 games following an ATS win. Belmont is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 home games and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games against a team with a winning record while the under is 5-0 in their last 5 games following an ATS win.

I get the case to be made for either side in this game, but I’m backing Belmont here a lot of Northern Iowa’s success as of late has been at home, or on the road against bottom-feeders in the MVC like Valparaiso or Illinois State. Belmont is a whole other challenge and one I don’t know that UNI will be able to handle. Give me Belmont in this one.