Drake vs Northern Iowa 2/5/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Northern Iowa Panthers and the Drake Bulldogs meet in college basketball action from the Knapp Center on Saturday.

The Northern Iowa Panthers will try to add to their three-game winning streak after a 78-65 win over Bradley last time out. AJ Green leads the Panthers in scoring with 18.5 PPG while Noah Carter has 14.2 PPG to cap off the pair of double-digit scorers for UNI this season. Nate Heise has 9.6 PPG with 4.9 RPG and Trae Berhow has an identical 9.6 PPG and 4.9 RPG of his own this season. As a team, Northern Iowa is averaging 74.7 PPG on 46.3% shooting from the field, 35.5% from three and 77.1% from the foul line while allowing 69.7 PPG on 44.2% shooting from the field and 34.2% from three this season.

The Drake Bulldogs will be out to add to their current four-game winning streak after an 85-67 win over Indiana State last time out. Tucker Devries leads the Bulldogs in scoring with 13.5 PPG along with 4.5 RPG while Garrett Sturtz has 11.2 PPG with a team-high 7.4 RPG and Roman Penn has 10.8 PPG with 3.6 APG this season. D.J. Wilkins has 10.8 PPG as well to finish off the group of double-digit scorers for Drake so far this season while Tremell Murphy has 9.8 PPG with 5.4 RPG and ShanQuan Hemphill has 9.7 PPG with 5 RPG. As a team, As a team, Drake is averaging 75.8 PPG on 46.1% shooting from the field, 36.9% from three and 73.6% from the foul line while allowing 66.9 PPG on 43.6% shooting from the field and 34.4% from three this season.

Northern Iowa is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games as an underdog while the over is 4-0 in their last 4 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600. Drake is 7-18-1 ATS in their last 26 games overall and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games as a favorite while the over is 11-2 in their last 13 games following an ATS win.

I get why the points with Northern Iowa are tempting as this is a revenge spot for the Panthers and the Bulldogs haven’t been the most consistent cover team going back to last season. However, the favorite’s owned this series, going 21-5-2 ATS in the last 28 meetings between these two and the Bulldogs have covered three of their last four games seemingly out of nowhere if we’re being honest. UNI has had covers as well, but the Panthers have been a streaky team in that regard and I think Drake’s building some confidence. Give me the Bulldogs laying the points here.