Northern Iowa vs Loyola-Chicago 3/5/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The 4-seed Loyola Chicago Ramblers & 1-seed Northern Iowa Panthers will square off at the Enterprise Center in the Semifinals of the MVC Tournament this Saturday afternoon.

The 4-seed Loyola Chicago Ramblers improved to 23-7 on the season after defeating the 5-seed Bradley Braves, 66-50, this past Friday. Loyola Chicago was outstanding defensively against Bradley and had no trouble securing the victory after going into halftime with a 44-27 lead. Loyola Chicago shot 48.9% from the field & 35.3% from beyond the arc while holding Bradley to 31.4% shooting from the field & 20.0% from beyond the arc. Leading the way for the Ramblers was Lucas Williamson who had 13 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, & 3 steals.

On the season, Loyola Chicago is averaging 74.4 ppg on 49.0% shooting from the field. The Ramblers are averaging 9.0 three-pointers per game on 38.7% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Loyola Chicago has been led by Lucas Williamson (14.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.9 apg, 1.3 spg), Braden Norris (10.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 4.1 apg, 1.2 spg), Aher Uguak (9.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.7 apg), & Marquise Kennedy (8.0 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.0 apg, 1.1 spg).

Defensively, Loyola Chicago is holding their opponents to an average of 62.5 ppg on 41.7% shooting from the field. The Ramblers have a rebound margin of 2.7 and a turnover margin of 1.6.

The 1-seed Northern Iowa Panthers improved to 19-10 on the season after defeating the 8-seed Illinois State Redbirds, 78-65, this past Friday. Northern Iowa led by a 40-30 margin at halftime and had no trouble securing the victory after taking a 61-45 lead with 8:21 left in regulation. Northern Iowa shot 47.5% from the field & 33.3% from beyond the arc while allowing Illinois State to shoot 40.0% from the field & 35.5% from beyond the arc. Offensively, Northern Iowa has been led by AJ Green who had 17 points, 6 rebounds, & 7 assists.

On the season, Northern Iowa is averaging 75.5 ppg on 46.6% shooting from the field. The Panthers are averaging 8.5 three-pointers per game on 35.6% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Northern Iowa has been led by AJ Green (19.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.4 apg), Noah Carter (14.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.7 apg), Trae Berhow (10.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 1.0 apg, 1.0 spg), & Nate Heise (9.1 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.2 apg, 1.0 spg).

Defensively, Northern Iowa is allowing their opponents to average 70.7 ppg on 45.0% shooting from the field. The Panthers have a rebound margin of 0.9 and a turnover margin of 1.3.

The Ramblers are 8-2-1 ATS in their last 11 neutral stie games, however, are just 4-9-1 ATS in their last 14 games overall.  The Panthers are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games overall & 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games as an underdog.

Loyola Chicago and Northern Iowa split their regular season series as the Ramblers defeated the Panthers by an 85-58 margin at home in mid-February while Northern Iowa defeated Loyola Chicago by a 102-96 margin in OT in their regular season finale.

Northern Iowa was able to earn the top-seed in the MVC Championship, however, I think every team still believes that Loyola Chicago is the team beat, especially after their strong performance against a decent Bradley team yesterday. Northern Iowa is solid on the offensive end, however, their defense has been below average as the Panthers come into this game ranked just 217^th in scoring defense & 275^th in defensive FG%, and as I think Loyola Chicago comes out strong on both ends of the court in this one, I’m taking the Ramblers to cover this spread. Good Luck!