The Northern Kentucky Norse host the Western Illinois Leathernecks meet in college basketball action from the BB&T Arena on Monday night.
The Western Illinois Leathernecks come into this one looking to bounce back from an 84-80 loss at the hands of DePaul last time out. Will Carius has a team-high 15.5 PPG while Luka Barisic has 15.3 PPG with 6.3 RPG. Colton Sandage has 13 PPG with 2.8 RPG and a team-high 3.5 APG while Trenton Massner has 12.8 PPG with 6.3 RPG and 3.5 APG as well on the year. Tamell Pearson also has 9 PPG with a team-high 7.3 RPG as well this year. As a team, Western Illinois is averaging 85.8 PPG on 45.9% shooting from the field, 31.3% from three and 61% from the foul line while allowing 74.5 PPG on 41.8% shooting from the field and 31.5% from three this season.
The Northern Kentucky Norse will look to build on their 74-73 win over Eastern Michigan in their last game. Noah Farrakhan has 17.5 PPG with 5 RPG while Monty Scott has 16.5 PPG with a team-high 3.3 APG as well this season. Bryce McBride has 12.5 PPG with 5 RPG and Colin Golson Jr. has 5 RPG as well and Mo Njie also has 5.7 RPG as well on the year. As a team, Northern Kentucky is averaging 75 PPG on 43.1% shooting from the field, 37.5% from three and 68.2% from the foul line while allowing 65.7 PPG on 43.6% shooting from the field and 35.35 from three this season.
Western Illinois is 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games following an ATS wins and 9-2 ATS in their last 11 games overall while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 games following a loss. Northern Kentucky is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games against a team with a winning record and 14-6-1 ATS in their last 21 games following an ATS loss while the over is 8-1-1 in their last 10 games following a win.
This is shaping up to be an interesting matchup, but truth be told I’m having a hard time really getting a feel for either one of these teams early on. Both have had solid performances at points while also playing some softer opponents. I do think that offense hasn’t been an issue for either side early on and this feels like a game that feels like it gets into the 150s so give me the over here.