Miami-Ohio at Northern Illinois - 3/12/20 College Basketball Picks and Prediction
Photo by Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports
Miami-Ohio RedHawks (13-19) at Northern Illinois Huskies (18-13)
College Basketball: Thursday, March 12, 2020 at 2:30 pm (Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse)
The Line: Northern Illinois Huskies -2.5 -- Over/Under: 131.5
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The Miami (OH) Red Hawks (13-19, 5-13 CONF) and the Northern Illinois (NIU) Huskies (18-13, 11-7 CONF) will meet on Thursday, March 12th for the Quarterfinal of the MAC Conference Tournament Presented by Visit Myrtle Beach. The game will be played at a neutral site location at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, OH. The game is scheduled for a 2:30 PM ET start time.
Miami (OH) upset #5 seed Buffalo in the first round of this tournament, a feat that is already impressive for this team. It will only get harder for Miami (OH), who now has to take on NIU. NIU had a bye in the first round of the tournament. NIU’s last game of the regular season was a loss, 75-54 at home to Ball State. NIU and Miami (OH) split the season series this season, 1-1.
Miami-Ohio scores 71.1 points per game on 42.6 percent field goal shooting this season. Miami-Ohio’s leading scorer and rebounder is G Nike Sibande, who scores 13.9 points per game and earns 5.9 rebounds per game. Miami-Ohio allows 71.1 points per game to the opposition, therefore they have a 0.0 scoring differential so far this season. Miami-Ohio also earns 35.0 rebounds, 12.2 assists, 2.4 blocks, and 5.2 steals per game as a team.
NIU scores 66.8 points per game on 41.4 percent field goal shooting this season. NIU’s leading scorer is G Eugene German, who scores 20.5 points per game. The leading rebounder for NIU is F Lacey James, who earns 7.7 rebounds per game. NIU allows 64.5 points per game to the opposition, thus they have a +2.3 scoring differential so far this season. NIU also earns 38.5 rebounds, 10.1 assists, 2.7 blocks, and 5.6 steals per game as a team.
Miami-OH is 13-17 against the spread this season and 7-3 against the spread in their last ten games. Miami-OH is also 1-2 against the spread in neutral site games so far this season. NIU is 15-15 against the spread this season and 6-4 against the spread in their last ten games. NIU is also playing in their first neutral-site game this season.
Both of these teams have been inconsistent galore, therefore I cannot take a side here. Instead, I will take the over, as both teams should be able to score at least 65 points. Miami-OH just scored 85 in their win over Buffalo, while surrendering 79 themselves. Over 131.5 for me
Ronald’s Pick Over 131.5
AUTHOR: Ronald Romanelli
