Nebraska-Omaha vs Northern Iowa Prediction College Basketball Picks 12/13/24

The Omaha Mavericks and the Northern Iowa Panthers meet Friday in college basketball action from the McLeod Center. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s an Omaha vs. Northern Iowa prediction.

Omaha Recap

The Omaha Mavericks come into this one looking to add to their 70-60 win over Sacramento State last time out. After this game, Omaha will take on Iowa State, Cal Poly, North Dakota, North Dakota State, UMKC, and South Dakota State.

Mavericks Looking To String Wins Together With Upset

Marquel Sutton leads the Mavericks in scoring and rebounding with 17.2 PPG and 7.3 RPG while Tony Osburn has 11.8 PPG as the only other double-digit scorer for Omaha up to this point in the year. Lance Waddles also has 9.1 PPG with 4.1 RPG and a team-high 2.6 APG to lead the Mavericks in the assist department. As a team, Omaha is averaging 70.5 PPG on 43.4% shooting from the field, 34.5% shooting from the field, and 74% from the foul line this season.

Why the Omaha Mavericks will win

• Northern Iowa has lost nine of its last 10 Friday games against non-conference opponents.

Northern Iowa Recap

The Northern Iowa Panthers come into this game looking to build on a 101-57 win over Northern Illinois last time out. After this game, Montana will come to town to take on the Panthers.

Panthers Win Back-To-Back Routs

Tytan Anderson leads the Panthers in scoring and rebounding with 13.1 PPG and 6.1 RPG while Jacob Hutson has 11.9 PPG with 4.2 RPG. Ben Schwieger has 10.6 PPG to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for Northern Iowa so far this season. Trey Campbell has 9 PPG along with 4.3 RPG and a team-high 3 APG as well on the year. As a team, Northern Iowa is averaging 76.2 PPG on 51.9% shooting from the field, 40.1% from three, and 69.5% from the foul line this season.

Why the Northern Iowa Panthers will win

• Northern Iowa has won each of its last 10 night games at McLeod Center.
• Omaha has lost 30 of its last 33 night games against non-conference opponents.

Omaha vs. Northern Iowa Prediction

I’m with Northern Iowa here. I just think that the Panthers are the far better team here and I just don’t trust the Mavericks enough on the defensive end of the floor to hold down a Northern Iowa team that has some pretty impressive shooting percentages across the board so far this season. It’s a bigger number than I prefer to lay with a team like Northern Iowa, but the Panthers should have no problems getting the job done here.