The Oakland Golden Grizzlies will be at Bank of Kentucky Center to take on the Northern Kentucky Norse in a Horizon matchup. The game gets underway at 7:00 pm ET on Monday, Feb. 1 and will air on ES3.
The Norse were victorious over Detroit 91-83 on Friday. Cole Murray led all scorers on the team with 25 points on 9-for-14 shooting. The Golden Grizzlies are coming off an 89-63 win over Wright State on Friday. Kahlil Felder led the game in scoring with 33 points on 11-for-17 shooting.
Jalen Hayes has been on a tear over the last five games for the Golden Grizzlies, averaging 16.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, 0.8 steals, and 0.6 blocks.
The Golden Grizzlies should minimize miscues in this matchup. They rank 26th in the nation at avoiding errors (TO% of 15.8%). Meanwhile, Northern Kentucky forces the 53rd-fewest mistakes in the nation, with just 16.8% of opponents’ possessions ending in a turnover.
This will be the second matchup of the season between these two teams. The Norse won the first game 90-73. Jalen Billups was a standout player in the game, producing 22 points, eight rebounds, one assist, one steal, and one block.
Northern Kentucky is a six-point underdog in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is 160 points. The Norse enter the game with records of 8-12 Straight Up (SU) and 7-9 Against The Spread (ATS).
On the other side, Oakland has a SU record of 14-8 and an ATS record of 13-4. Most recently, Oakland is 7-3 ATS over the last 10 games. The Golden Grizzlies rank third in the country in scoring, averaging 86.2 points per game. Oakland is one of the top three-point shooting teams in the nation, converting .396 of their shots from three-point range. Oakland is one of the better rebounding teams in Division I. The Golden Grizzlies average 39.8 rebounds per game, making them the 46th-best team in the country for that category.
Following the Norse’s latest win over the Golden Grizzlies, their SU record rises to 1-0 over Oakland. Additionally, Northern Kentucky leads the matchup ATS with a record of 1-0.
Predictions: SU Winner – Oak, ATS Winner – Oak, O/U – Over
Notes
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Oakland’s last 6 games on the road.
Oakland averages 86.2 points per game (ranked third). The Northern Kentucky defense has done poorly this season, giving up 73.2 PPG (ranked 218th).
In its last game, Oakland won by a margin of 26 points. Northern Kentucky is 3-2 in games decided by a margin of 18 points or more. Oakland has a 6-0 record in blowouts.
Oakland beats Northern Kentucky in both possessions per game and points per possession. The Golden Grizzlies average 74.4 possessions and 1.159 points per possession, while the Norse average 69.5 possessions with 1.026 points per possession.
Northern Kentucky has an average effective field goal percentage of 51.0%. Oakland is an underachieving 3-7 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
Northern Kentucky ranks 97th in assists, recording 14.8 per game. Oakland ranks 84th with 15.1 assists per game.
Oakland, the 46th-ranked team in rebounding, registers an average of 39.8 rebounds per game. Northern Kentucky does worse, ranked 228th with 35.6.
On average, Oakland makes 6.0 steals per game. Northern Kentucky is a subpar 4-9 when it allows at least 6 steals.
