It will be a battle between Missouri Valley opponents when the Indiana State Sycamores (9-7) welcome the Northern Iowa Panthers (10-7) to Hulman Center. The game starts at 7:00 pm ET on Wednesday, Jan. 13 and will air on ES3.
The Sycamores were victorious over Illinois State 77-65 on Saturday. Brenton Scott was the game’s high scorer with 25 points on 9-for-20 shooting. The Panthers are coming off a 77-44 win over Drake on Saturday. Matt Bohannon shot 7 for 11 and led in scoring with 21 points.
Second-chance opportunities are expected to be few and far between for the Panthers in this contest. They rank 349th in the nation in offensive rebounding (OR% of 19.1%), while Indiana State is 30th-best in the nation on the defensive backboards (DR% of 74.9%).
The Sycamores are attempting to build on their records of 9-7 Straight Up (SU) and 11-4 Against The Spread (ATS). In their last 10 games, they are 8-1 ATS.
Across the court, the Panthers head into the game with records of 8-8 ATS and 10-7 SU. The Panthers are shooting very well so far with a .394 three-point field goal percentage that ranks 26th in Division I. Don’t expect Northern Iowa to give away the ball much on offense, where its 10.4 turnovers per game ranks 17th in the country.
This game marks the first time these teams will play this season. The last time Indiana State and Northern Iowa played, Northern Iowa won, but Indiana State still leads the head-to-head record, 6-4 SU, over their most recent matchups. Additionally, Indiana State leads the matchup ATS with a record of 6-3-1. When it comes to field goals, rebounds, or three-pointers, neither team was able to hold the advantage in all three of these categories over their past five meetings against one another.
Predictions: SU Winner – InSt, ATS Winner – InSt
Notes
Indiana State is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Indiana State’s last 6 games.
Indiana State is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Indiana State’s last 6 games when playing Northern Iowa.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Indiana State’s last 5 games when playing at home against Northern Iowa.
The Northern Iowa Panthers rank 63rd for their offensive rating of 111.9. The Indiana State Sycamores have a defensive rating of 94.8 (ranked 39th).
The Northern Iowa Panthers average a field goal percentage of 48.5% this season. The Indiana State Sycamores have split their games this season (1-1) when opponents have a FG% of 48.5% or greater.
The Indiana State Sycamores and the Northern Iowa Panthers both rank higher in average effective field goal percentage when compared to their field goal percentages. Indiana State is 312th and 295th in the nation for FG% and eFG% respectively, while Northern Iowa is 28th and 11th in these categories.
Northern Iowa ranks 81st in the nation with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.23. Indiana State is ranked lower at 267th with an A/TO of .90.
Indiana State records 7.2 steals per game. Northern Iowa is 3-2 when giving up at least 7 steals.
