Illinois State Redbirds vs UNI Panthers Prediction, 2/25/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Illinois State Redbirds vs UNI Panthers

Date: Wednesday, February 25, 2026

Location: McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, IA

TV: ESPN+

The Illinois State Redbirds (18-11) are traveling to McLeod Center on Wednesday where they will take on the UNI Panthers (18-11).

The Illinois State Redbirds stepped onto the hardwood against Bradley and went home with a loss by a final score of 74-60 in their last contest. Regarding personal fouls, the Redbirds ended up finishing with 16 while Bradley had 13 personal fouls. They also buried 3 of their 18 attempts from distance. Bradley went 68.8% when shooting free throws by knocking down 11 of 16 tries. Moreover, Bradley grabbed 32 boards (10 offensive, 22 defensive), but couldn't earn a rejection. Bradley earned 12 dimes and had 9 steals for the contest. In the matter of defending, Illinois State allowed the other team to go 50.8% from the floor on 30 out of 59 shooting. They also doled out 11 dimes for the game while forcing the other team into 5 turnovers and getting 2 steals. In reference to pulling down boards, they earned 26 with 6 of them being of the offensive sort. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Redbirds knocked down 8 of 10 tries for a rate of 80.0%. Illinois State ended the game having earned a 41.5% field goal percentage (22 of 53) and buried 8 out of their 22 three-point shots.

Landon Wolf is one player who was a major contributor in the game. He ended up going 50.0% from the floor and earned 1 assist. He played 29 minutes and also grabbed 3 rebounds. He was able to score 12 points on 4 out of 8 shooting.

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Illinois State heads into this contest with a record of 18-11 this year. They turn the ball over 11.4 times per contest and as a group they commit 16.7 fouls per contest. As a team, Illinois State is pulling in 36.3 rebounds per game and has totaled 401 dimes for the season, which has them ranked 154th in D-1 in terms of passing. The Redbirds are shooting 35.4% from downtown (250 of 707) and 69.5% from the free throw line. They average 75.9 points per outing (187th in the nation) while connecting on 47.0% from the floor.

On the defensive end, the Redbirds are able to force 11.2 turnovers per contest and they draw 17.1 fouls. They are surrendering 31.5% on 3-pointers while they are 42nd in the country in PPG allowed (68.0). The Redbirds defensively are giving up a FG percentage of 42.9% (710 of 1,654) and they surrender 32.5 rebounds per contest as a squad. They are ranked 110th in the nation in giving up assists to their opponents with 351 relinquished on the year.

The last time they took the court, the UNI Panthers took a loss by a final score of 59-57 when they faced Southern Illinois. The Panthers were able to corral 13 defensive rebounds and 7 offensive boards totaling 20 in this contest. They turned it over 14 times, while recording 12 steals in the matchup. Southern Illinois earned 12 personal fouls in this game which got the Panthers to the charity stripe for 9 attempts. They were able to knock down 7 of the free throw tries for a percentage of 77.8%. With respect to shooting from downtown, UNI made 4 of 17 attempts (23.5%). In all, the Panthers finished the game shooting 23 for 52 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 44.2%. The Panthers permitted Southern Illinois to knock down 26 of their 51 attempts from the floor which gave them a percentage of 51.0% for the matchup. They went 37.5% from behind the 3-point line by going 6 of 16 and finished the contest at 1 of 3 at the free throw line (33.3%). In relation to cleaning up the glass, UNI allowed Southern Illinois to pull down 27 in total (9 offensive).

Trey Campbell ended up being a factor for the Panthers in the matchup. He had 16 points in his 37 mins on the court and earned 2 assists for the matchup. He knocked down 8 of 16 in this matchup for a rate of 50.0%, and had 2 rebounds.

UNI has a record of 18-11 this season. The Panthers are responsible for committing 15.0 personal fouls every game and they hit 69.9% from the free throw line. They are getting an assist 14.5 times per contest (142nd in college) and they turn the ball over 9.4 times per contest. UNI has tallied 2,004 pts on the season (69.1 per game) and they grab 32.3 boards per contest. As an offensive team, the Panthers are hitting on 46.8% from the floor, which is 90th in Division 1.

The Panthers are ranked 1st in the nation in points given up per game with 61.1. They are forcing 12.1 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 40.9% from the field (37th in college hoops). The UNI defense allows 28.1% on shots from beyond the perimeter (179 of 638) and their opposition makes 70.5% of their foul shots. They allow 10.9 dimes and 33.7 boards per contest, which is ranked 17th and 134th in Division 1.

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take UNI

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