The Northern Iowa Panthers and the Missouri State Bears meet in college basketball action from the JQH Arena on Saturday night.
The Northern Iowa Panthers will look to build on a 92-65 win over Valparaiso last time out. AJ Green leads the Panthers in scoring with 16.4 PPG while Noah Carter has 12.5 PPG and Nate Heise has 10.8 PPG and 4.9 RPG to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for UNI this season. Trae Berhow has 9.7 PPG and a team-high 4.8 RPG to lead the Panthers on the glass while Austin Phyfe has 7.5 PPG this season. As a team, Northern Iowa is averaging 73.8 PPG on 46.5% shooting from the field, 36.6% from three and 73.2% from the foul line while allowing 68 PPG on 43.6% shooting from the field and 34% from three this season.
The Missouri State Bears will try to build on their 71-69 win over Bradley last time out. Isiaih Mosley leads the Bears in scoring with 17 PPG along with 5.3 RPG while Gaige Prim has 14.3 PPG and a team-high 8.4 RPG to lead the Bears on the glass. Jaylen Minnett has 11.4 PPG and Ja’Monta Black has 10.7 PPG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Missouri State up to this point in the season. As a team, Missouri State is averaging 78.4 PPG on 48.3% shooting from the field, 39.3% from three and 77.7% from the foul line while allowing 66.8 PPG on 41.8% shooting from the field and 32.7% from three this season.
Northern Iowa is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall and 5-2 ATS in their last 7 road games while the over is 5-1 in their last 6 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600. Missouri State is 21-5-1 ATS in their last 27 games as a favorite and 34-16-2 ATS in their last 52 games overall while the under is 4-1 in their last 5 games as a home favorite.
I get the case to be made for the Panthers and the points, but I’m siding with the Bears at home here. The Panthers just haven’t been able to live up to the expectations that come along with bringing so much talent and experience back and while the Bears aren’t a world-beater, they’re expected to be one of the better teams in the MVC this season and I think they pull away in the second half for a win and cover here.