Southern Illinois Salukis vs UNI Panthers Prediction, 2/21/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Southern Illinois Salukis vs UNI Panthers

Date: Saturday, February 21, 2026

Location: McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, IA

TV: ESPN+

The Southern Illinois Salukis (13-15) are traveling to McLeod Center on Saturday where they will compete against the UNI Panthers (18-10).

The Southern Illinois Salukis faced off with Drake and notched a win by a score of 66-61 in their last contest. Southern Illinois finished the contest with a 34.8% field goal percentage (23 out of 66) and converted 10 of 26 3-pointers. At the free throw line, the Salukis buried 10 of 17 tries for a rate of 58.8%. When talking about hauling in rebounds, they compiled 41 with 13 of them being of the offensive variety. They also dished out 14 dimes in this game as well as forcing the other team into 14 turnovers and getting 10 steals. Pertaining to defense, Southern Illinois allowed their opponent to shoot 40.0% from the floor on 24 of 60 shooting. Drake earned 10 dimes and had 5 steals in the matchup. In addition, Drake totaled 36 rebounds (6 offensive, 30 defensive), but didn't have a block. Drake finished shooting 46.2% at the free throw line by burying 6 of 13 tries. They also buried 7 of their 25 shots from 3-point land. With respect to personal fouls, the Salukis left the arena with 13 and Drake recorded 16 personal fouls.

Damien Mayo Jr. is a guy who was a factor in the game. He accounted for 22 points on 8 out of 10 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 20 minutes and also grabbed 1 board. He shot 80.0% from the floor and dished out 3 assists.

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Southern Illinois will play this game with a win-loss mark of 13-15 on the season. They turn the ball over 12.3 times per game and as a unit they are committing 17.8 fouls per game. As a team, Southern Illinois is grabbing 38.1 rebounds per game and has 378 assists this year, which is 167th in the nation in terms of passing the rock. The Salukis are hitting 28.1% on shots beyond the perimeter (139 of 494) and 67.5% from the free throw line. They currently have an average of 73.8 points per outing (245th in the nation) while hitting 45.5% from the field.

On the defensive end, the Salukis are able to force 13.3 turnovers per game and they draw 17.7 personal fouls. They rank 205th in college hoops in giving up assists to the opposition with 361 relinquished on the season. The Salukis defensively are giving up and opponent field goal percentage of 42.3% (702 of 1,658) and they relinquish 35.6 boards per game as a unit. They are conceding 30.5% from 3-point land and they are ranked 92nd in college in PPG allowed (70.7).

When they last played, the UNI Panthers got the victory with a final of 81-60 against Indiana State. In relation to how they attacked the glass, UNI permitted Indiana State to pull down 35 in total (10 on the offensive glass). They finished 33.3% from beyond the perimeter by shooting 7 of 21 and ended up shooting 7 of 13 at the charity stripe (53.8%). The Panthers allowed Indiana State to knock down 23 of 55 tries from the floor which had them sitting at 41.8% in this matchup. When the final whistle blew, the Panthers ended up going 33 out of 58 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 56.9%. With regard to shots from beyond the perimeter, UNI buried 13 of 27 attempts (48.1%). They were able to knock down 2 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 33.3%. Indiana State was called for 9 fouls in this game which took the Panthers to the charity stripe for a total of 6 attempts. They turned it over 7 times, while earning 7 steals in the matchup. The Panthers were able to collect 21 defensive boards and 2 offensive rebounds totaling 23 for the game.

Will Hornseth ended up having an impact for the Panthers for the matchup. He accumulated 18 points in his 31 minutes of playing time and had 3 dimes for the game. He made 9 out of 13 in this matchup for a rate of 69.2%, and had 3 rebounds.

UNI has a mark of 18-10 this year. The Panthers are committing 15.1 personal fouls per game and they hit 69.7% from the charity stripe. They are getting an assist 14.7 times per contest (132nd in D-1) and they are giving up possession 9.2 times per contest. UNI has 1,947 pts for the campaign (69.5 per contest) and they grab 32.6 rebounds per contest. On the offensive side of the ball, the Panthers are hitting on 46.9% from the field, which has them ranked 84th in college.

The Panthers on the defensive end are ranked 1st in D-1 in points per game surrendered with 61.1. They have forced 11.9 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 40.5% from the floor (31st in the nation). The UNI defense concedes 27.8% on shots from behind the 3-point line (173 of 622) and opponents are converting on 70.8% of their foul shots. They give up 10.8 dimes and 33.9 rebounds every game, which has them ranked 17th and 144th in college hoops.

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

Tony Sink's Pick: Take UNI and under the total points

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