Northern Iowa Panthers at Saint Mary’s Gaels
Tuesday, 11/15/11, 12:00 AM EST, TV: ESPN
Opening Point Spread: Saint Mary’s -9.5
Current Betting Line: Saint Mary’s -10.5
Opening Total: 129.5
Current Total: 127
Odds Courtesy of Bookmaker
Northern Iowa travels across the country to take on Saint Mary’s and comes in off a season-opening 63-46 win over Old Dominion as four-point road underdogs. The Panthers held the Monarchs to just 12-of-44 shooting in that contest. This will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools, as the program brings back eight letterwinners and three starters from last year’s team. Northern Iowa’s streak of three consecutive 20-win seasons is the longest active streak in the Missouri Valley Conference. Over the last two-plus seasons, the team is 12-8 ATS as an underdog, while the ‘under’ is 12-6 in that situation.
The Panthers are led offensively by junior guard Anthony James, who is the team’s top returning scorer in averaging 12.4 points last season. He connected on 6-of-15 shot attempts in the season opener, finishing as the second-leading scorer with 13 points, five behind Jake Koch. Koch became the first player in program history to record 30 or more assists, steals and blocks in the same season a year ago.
Saint Mary’s opened its season against a non-Division I opponent, handing Fresno Pacific a 98-58 defeat. The Gaels are one of eight teams nationally to win at least 25 games in the past four seasons. The team has registered a 61-9 record in non-conference games the past seven seasons and returns 79 percent of its scoring and 92 percent of its rebounding. Senior Rob Jones led the team in the opener, scoring a career-high 25 points, hitting 10-of-13 shots from the field, while also grabbing 12 rebounds. Saint Mary’s is 7-1 ATS in November the last two-plus campaigns.
The Gaels are expected to make a run at the West Coast Conference title, as the coaches predicted a second-place finish for the program, sitting just behind the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Saint Mary’s has tallied an ultra-impressive 61-7 home record over the last five seasons. Offensively, the team moves the ball around with great success, as 60 percent of its field goals were assisted a year ago. The entire roster came into this season motivated due to missing the NCAA Tournament a year ago despite posting a 25-9 record and sharing a part of the conference championship.
Bettors will likely back the Gaels due to their 28-12-1 ATS mark versus non-conference foes, while the Panthers are 2-6 ATS when facing a team with a winning home record.
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