The Idaho State Bengals and Northern Colorado Bears meet Sunday in the college basketball Big Sky Tournament Second Round at the Idaho Central Arena. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Idaho State vs. Northern Colorado prediction.
Idaho State Team Preview
The Idaho State Bengals come into this one off of a 69-60 win over Northern Arizona last time out. Brayden Parker leads the Bengals in scoring and rebounding with 14.9 PPG and 5.8 RPG while Miguel Tomley has 13.3 PPG with 3 RPG and 2 APG. Maleek Arington has 11.9 PPG with 3.4 RPG and a team-high 4.7 APG to lead the Bengals in assists. Kiree Huie has 11.3 PPG with 5.8 RPG of his own to finish off the scoring in double figures up to this point in the year. As a team, Idaho State is averaging 70.5 PPG on 46.2% shooting from the field, 32.8% from three and 67.6% from the foul line this season.
Northern Colorado Team Preview
The Northern Colorado Bears come into the conference tournament as the 2-seed, finishing the year with an overall record of 19-12 including a 12-6 mark in Big Sky play. Saint Thomas leads the Bears in scoring and rebounding with 20 PPG, 10 RPG and 4 APG while Dejour Reaves has 14.7 PPG and 3.4 RPG. Brock Wisne has 11.8 PPG with 4.2 RPG and Jaron Rillie has 11 PPG, 4 RPG and a team-high 4.9 APG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Northern Colorado so far this season. As a team, Northern Colorado is averaging 80.4 points per game on 49.1% shooting from the floor, 35.6% from behind the arc and 72.8% from the foul line this season.
Idaho State vs. Northern Colorado Prediction
I’m on Northern Colorado here. Idaho State can get by Northern Arizona, and that’s all well and good, but the Bengals still have one of the worst defensive units in the conference this season. The two regular season meetings were fairly close, but I don’t look for another one here. Give me Northern Colorado in this one.