The McNeese State Cowboys and the Northern Iowa Panthers meet Friday in college basketball action from McLeod Center. McNeese is 2-6 overall this year and coming off a loss to Tennessee. As for Northern Iowa, they’re currently 3-5 overall. The Panthers fell to Bradley in their last outing. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
McNeese went just 1-3 over their first four games this year, falling to Tulane, Western Carolina and Lindenwood. The Cowboys hit another 1-3 run after that, beating Lamar then falling to Baylor, TN-Martin and Tennessee.
In the Volunteers game last Wednesday, McNeese was outpaced 30-14 in the first half. The Cowboys scored 26 more in the second half an ended up losing 76-40. Top team scorers Trae English and Christian Shumate (12 rebounds) each scored eight points.
Over on the Northern Iowa side, they also went 1-3 in their first four, taking losses to Richmond, San Francisco and Grand Canyon. The Panthers hit a 2-2 run from there, losing to Bradley and Toledo along the way.
In the Toledo game, the Panthers were down nine points by halftime. Northern Iowa scored 44 more in the second half but couldn’t catch up in an 83-75 loss. Bowen Born posted 27 points, and Tytan Anderson doubled on 13 points and 10 boards.
PICK: I’ll probably stick with Northern Iowa. Honestly there’s not a ton to like here, though. The Panthers have at least been scoring pretty well, with 67 or more points in five of their last six outings. Northern Iowa is just 2-4 in that stretch however; they’ve given up 68 or more points in five of those six as well. As for McNeese, this matchup is going to seem easy compared to the competition they’ve faced over the last three games (two ranked opponents). That said, I like Northern Iowa a little better cover-wise. Should be a good game, though.