UIC Flames vs Northern Illinois Huskies Prediction, 11/25/2020 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: UIC Flames vs Northern Illinois Huskies

Date: Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Location: NIU Convocation Center in DeKalb, IL

TV: ESPN3

Odds/Point Spread: UIC (+2)

The Northern Illinois Huskies (18-13 last year) play the UIC Flames (18-17 last season) at NIU Convocation Center on Wednesday. Northern Illinois opens this matchup as 2-point favorites. The total is set at 132.5.

The UIC Flames faced the Northern Kentucky Norse and ended up losing by a score of 71-62 in their last game of the season. UIC walked away from the game with a 43.6% FG percentage (24 out of 55) and buried 3 of their 15 shots from beyond the perimeter. At the charity stripe, the Flames buried 11 of their 18 tries for a rate of 61.1%. With respect to rebounding, they earned 34 with 9 of them being offensive. They also recorded 8 dimes in this contest in addition to earning 6 steals and 2 rejections. When talking about defending, UIC allowed 43.6% from the floor by shooting 24 out of 55. Northern Kentucky distributed 9 assists and 11 steals for this game. In addition, the Norse snagged 23 rebounds (4 offensive, 19 defensive) and added 2 rejections. Northern Kentucky finished 65.5% from the free throw line by knocking down 19 of 29 tries. They also made 6 out of their 21 attempts from beyond the perimeter. Tarkus Ferguson is one guy who saw a lot of court time for the game. He had 15 points on 4 of 10 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 40 minutes played and also snagged 7 boards. Ferguson finished shooting 40.0% from the floor and also totaled 3 assists. An additional guy that was a contributor in this matchup for the Flames was Michael Diggins. He pulled down 7 boards and also had 4 dimes. He ended up shooting 75.0% from the floor in this game by shooting 6-of-8 (13 points). When the final whistle blew, Diggins played for 36 minutes.

UIC comes into this matchup after finishing with a mark of 18-17 last season. The Flames connected on 33.7% on three-point attempts (252 of 747) and 68.5% from the charity stripe. They averaged 68.9 pts per contest (241st in the nation) while connecting on 44.4% from the field. They lost possession via turnover 15.7 times per contest and as a unit committed 19.5 fouls on a nightly basis. As a team UIC pulled down 37.4 boards per game and totaled 494 assists last season, which ranked 23rd in D-1 in terms of passing the rock. On the defensive end the Flames forced 12.5 turnovers per game and they drew 16.6 fouls. They surrendered 29.0% on shots from beyond the arc and they were 164th in the country in opponents points per game (68.8). The Flames defense allowed a FG percentage of 40.4% (834 of 2,062) and they relinquished 35.5 rebounds per game as a group. They were 311th in D-1 in giving up assists to their opponents with 471 relinquished last season.

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Northern Illinois Huskies took a defeat with a final score of 75-54 against the Ball State Cardinals. The Huskies were able to pull down 12 defensive rebounds and 11 offensive rebounds totaling 23 for the contest. They rejected 4 shots while recording 9 steals for the game. The Cardinals were called for 19 fouls in this matchup which took the Huskies to the free throw line for a total of 18 attempts. They were able to make 12 of the free throws for a percentage of 66.7%. Regarding 3-point attempts, Northern Illinois buried 6 out of their 27 attempts (22.2%). Overall, the Huskies went 18 out of 64 from the field which had them shooting 28.1%. The Huskies allowed the Cardinals to bury 22 out of 43 attempts from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 51.2% in the matchup. They finished 43.5% from beyond the arc by connecting on 10 out of 23 and finished the game at 21 out of 24 at the free throw line (87.5%). When discussing how they cleaned up the glass, Northern Illinois permitted Ball State to snag 37 in total (5 offensive). Eugene German ended up seeing a lot of time on the hardwood for the Huskies in this game. He made 5 out of 21 for this game giving him a field goal percentage of 23.8%, which got him 17 points. German collected 3 rebounds in his 32 mins played and had 3 assists in the game. Another guy who came through for Northern Illinois was Trendon Hankerson. He totaled 12 points in 32 minutes played by going 4 of 8 shooting for the matchup. Hankerson walked away from this one going 50.0% from the field while also collecting 3 assists and 2 rebounds.

Northern Illinois had a win-loss record of 18-13 last year. The Huskies were responsible for committing 17.7 personal fouls per contest and they connected on 67.4% from the charity stripe. They got an assist 10.0 times per game (346th in college basketball) and they coughed up possession 11.8 times per contest. Northern Illinois earned 2,071 pts last season (66.8 per contest) and they averaged 38.5 rebounds per game. As an offense the Huskies shot 41.4% from the field, which ranked 296th in college hoops. The Huskies were ranked 44th in college hoops in PPG surrendered with 64.5. The Northern Illinois defense from outside the perimeter gave up 30.5% on shots from 3-point land (229 of 750) and their opponents converted on 72.3% of their shots from the charity stripe. They were able to force 11.5 TO's per game and let teams shoot 40.2% from the floor (44th in college hoops). They gave up 11.5 dimes and 34.3 total rebounds per game, which was ranked 93rd and 147th in the nation.

Who will win tonight's college basketball game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take UIC (+2)

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