The Northern Illinois Huskies (7-0) are off to a hot start and will try to remain undefeated when they compete against the Missouri Tigers (3-3) at Mizzou Arena. The game begins at 8:00 pm ET on Friday, Dec. 4.
The Tigers defeated Arkansas State 88-78 on Tuesday. Terrence Phillips had a good game, finishing with eight points, seven assists, and four rebounds for the Tigers. The Huskies are coming off an 80-58 win over Chicago State on Wednesday. Marin Maric played well and claimed his second double-double of the season, accumulating 12 points and 14 rebounds.
Missouri is a four-point favorite against Northern Illinois and the Over/Under (O/U) for this game is set at 132 points. The Tigers look to improve upon their records of 3-3 Straight Up (SU) and 4-1 Against The Spread (ATS).
On the other side, the season has started off great for the Huskies, who have an impressive record of 7-0 SU and 4-0 ATS. The Huskies have controlled the glass with an average of 44.0 rebounds per game, 21st in the country. The Huskies are the better of the two teams when it comes to assist-to-turnover ratio, ranking 28th in Division I at 1.52. The Northern Illinois defense as a whole has been firing on all cylinders so far, ranking 17th in Division I with only 59.9 points allowed per game. Teams seem to consistently miss shots against the Huskies, who are the 23rd-best team in the nation in terms of opponent field goal percentage allowed at .366.
This game will be the first meeting for Missouri and Northern Illinois in recent seasons.
Predictions: SU Winner – NIU, ATS Winner – NIU, O/U – Under
Notes
Missouri is 5-19 SU in its last 24 games.
Missouri is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home.
Northern Illinois averages 79.0 points per game (ranked 99th). Missouri, on the other hand, allows 69.7 points per game (ranked 151st).
The Northern Illinois Huskies have a defensive rating of 85.7 (ranked 16th), while the Missouri Tigers have an offensive rating of 101.3 (ranked 249th).
With 68.1 possessions and 1.013 points per possession, the Missouri Tigers perform worse on both metrics than the Northern Illinois Huskies. Northern Illinois averages 68.6 possessions and 1.151 points per possession.
The Missouri Tigers average an effective field goal percentage of 48.3% this season. The Northern Illinois Huskies are a perfect 3-0 in games where opponents have an eFG% of 48.3% or greater.
Missouri attempts an average of 17.0 three pointers per game and Northern Illinois attempts 21.0 on average. When the teams attempt at least 20 three pointers, the Missouri Tigers are winless (0-1) while the Northern Illinois Huskies are undefeated (5-0).
Northern Illinois ranks 28th in the nation with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.52. Missouri is ranked lower at 172nd with an A/TO of 1.06.
Missouri ranks 328th in offensive rebounds, while Northern Illinois ranks 16th in defensive rebounds.
Missouri makes 5.3 steals per game. In games where it gives up 5 or more steals, Northern Illinois is undefeated at 4-0.
