The Northern Iowa Panthers and the St. Bonaventure Bonnies meet Friday in college basketball action from the State Farm Field House. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Northern Iowa vs St. Bonaventure Prediction.
Northern Iowa Recap
The Northern Iowa Panthers come into this game looking to bounce back after a 68-48 loss at the hands of North Texas last time out.
Panthers Looking For A Bounce Back Showing
Tytan Anderson leads the Panthers in scoring and rebounding with 12.2 PPG and 6 RPG while Jacob Hutson has 11.8 PPG with 4.7 RPG. Ben Schwieger has 10 PPG to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for Northern Iowa so far this season. RJ Taylor has 8.3 PPG while Trey Campbell has a team-high 2.8 APG as well on the year. As a team, Northern Iowa is averaging 74.3 PPG on 50.1% shooting from the field, 36.2% from three, and 70.2% from the foul line this season.
Why the Northern Iowa Panthers will win
- Northern Iowa has won three of its last four games against the Atlantic 10 Conference.
- St. Bonaventure has lost three of its last four games against non-conference opponents at neutral venues.
St. Bonaventure Recap
The St. Bonaventure Bonnies will be out to bounce back after a loss to Utah State by a final score of 72-67 to fall to 6-1 on the year.
Bonnies Suffer First Loss Of Season
Chance Moore leads the Bonnies in scoring and rebounding with 15.6 PPG and 7.9 RPG while Noel Brown has 13 PPG with 5 RPG. Melvin Council Jr. has 12.3 PPG with 5.9 RPG and 3.3 APG while Dasonte Brown has 11 PPG with 3.6 RPG and a team-high 4.1 APG to lead the Bonnies in the assist department up to this point in the year. Lajae Jones has 10 PPG with 5.1 RPG to cap off the scoring in double figures for St. Bonaventure up to this point in the year. As a team, St. Bonaventure is averaging 75.7 PPG on 46.7% shooting from the field, 31.6% from three, and 68.8% from the foul line this season.
Why the St. Bonaventure Bonnies will win
- St. Bonaventure has won seven of its last eight games against non-conference opponents.
- Northern Iowa has lost 10 of its last 12 games against non-conference opponents at neutral venues.
Northern Iowa vs St. Bonaventure Prediction
I’m on the Bonnies here. It doesn’t seem to matter whether it’s as a favorite or underdog, the Bonnies just keep finding ways to cover, sneaking in the backdoor against Utah State. Northern Iowa has the better shooting percentages, but the Bonnies are the better defensive unit by a fair margin and we just saw the Panthers struggle against a capable defense in North Texas. I think that defense with both teams on no rest is going to be the difference here as the Bonnies get the win and cover here.