College Basketball Betting Preview: A Look at Northern Iowa-Indiana

Las Vegas Classic, Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, NV
Northern Iowa Panthers vs Indiana Hoosiers
Wednesday, December 22, 2010, 7:30 pm Eastern, TV: CBS College Sports
Opening Line: Indiana -4 1/2
Current Line: Indiana -4 1/2
Opening Total: 123
Current Total: 120 1/2
Money Line:Indiana – 200 / UNI +170

The Indiana Hoosiers are 4 1/2 point favorites in Las Vegas against Northern Iowa

The 7-3 Northern Iowa Panthers travel to Vegas to take on the 9-2 Indiana Hoosiers in the Las Vegas Classic . Though the core of last year’s team that upset Kansas in the second round of the NCAA tournament before losing to Michigan St in the Sweet 16 is gone, Northern Iowa is still a dangerous team. The Panthers have 3 losses on the season to Syracuse, Iowa, and Milwaukee. UNI has wins over Iowa St and TCU on the season. Both of those teams are middle of the pack teams in power conferences but they are still impressive to the selection committee in March. As would a victory over Indiana in a neutral site. Indiana is off to their best start since coach Tom Crean came over from Marquette to take over the Hoosiers. Indiana has losses to Boston College and Kentucky on the season. They haven’t really played any other good teams unless you count a victory over up-and-coming Wright St as a quality victory. Indiana will be tested in this tournament, and we will find out how good they really are before they start conference play in the rugged Big 10 next month. The winner of this game will play the winner of Colorado-New Mexico in the championship game tomorrow night. UNI is 26-14 ATS in all games over the last two seasons, and 18-8 ATS as an underdog the last 3 seasons.

Northern Iowa is outscoring opponents 62-55 on the season. They are trying to win the Missouri Valley Conference title for the third straight year, but as mentioned they have lots of losses from last year. This tournament will be a good test to see how good the Panthers really are. They shoot 42.6% from the field, and 29.8% from 3-point range. They make 72.3% of their free throws. They average 34.3 rebounds a game and have a rebounding margin of +5.4. They average 10.9 assists a game and also 10.9 turnovers a game. The Panthers average 4.6 steals and 2.1 blocks a game. Anthony James is the leading scorer with 11.9 points a game. Senior guard Kwadzo Ahelegbe averages 10.6 points a game. Jake Koch averages 10 points and 5.5 rebounds a game. He also averages 1.3 blocks a game. Johnny Moran averages 2.3 assists a game to lead the team. Lucas O’Rear leads the team in rebounds with 6.3 a game.

Indiana is outscoring their opponents 79-61 on the season, but is mostly fattening up on cupcakes. The Hoosiers have victories over Florida Gulf Coast, Mississippi Valley St, Evansville, NC Central, Northwestern St, Savannah St, SIU-Edwardsville, and South Carolina St. The Hoosiers are shooting 51.3% from the field, and 39.8% from 3 point range. They shoot 69.7% from the free throw line. The Hoosiers average 36.5 rebounds a game and have a rebounding margin of +6.2. Indiana averages 16.4 assists and 15.7 turnovers a game. Indiana also averages 8 steals and 4 blocks a game. Sophomore forward Christian Watford leads the scoring with 18.3 points and also averages 5.6 rebounds a game. Junior guard Verdell Jones III averages 13.2 points, and leads the team in assists with 3.5 a game. Maurice Creek scores 10.5 points a game.

We don’t really know how good either of these teams are, as they have beaten by every good team they have played and are getting their wins against inferior competition. Northern Iowa must slow the pace down and play the game in the 50’s or 60’s as they can’t run with the Hoosiers. Both of these teams are good defensively and thisa will be a good test for both teams before conference play starts.