Pick details
Northern Kentucky (7-7) vs PFW (10-5)
Game Info: Wednesday, January 1, 2025 at 12:00 pm (Truist Arena)
The Line: Betting Odds: Northern Kentucky -1 / PFW +1 — Over/Under:
The Fort Wayne Mastodons and the Northern Kentucky Norse meet Wednesday in college basketball action from BB&T Arena. Here’s a Fort Wayne vs Northern Kentucky prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Fort Wayne vs Northern Kentucky pick. We will examine:
The Fort Wayne Mastodons’ recent form and player performance
The Northern Kentucky Norse’s recent form and player performance
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Fort Wayne Mastodons
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Northern Kentucky Norse
Recent betting trends in games played between Fort Wayne and Northern Kentucky
A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Fort Wayne vs Northern Kentucky game
Fort Wayne Mastodons Betting Preview
The Mastodons got off to a pretty solid start this year, taking wins over Bluffton, Bethune-Cookman, and Southern Indiana for a 3-1 opening. Fort Wayne hit a 2-3 stretch after that featuring losses to Penn State, Radford, and Detroit Mercy, but they’ve since gone 5-1 over the last six. Those victories have been against Robert Morris, IUPUI, Eastern Michigan, Defiance, and Green Bay (with a loss to Michigan).
In the Green Bay game on Sunday, the Mastodons came out of the first half with a sizable 44-24 edge. Fort Wayne cruised from there on a 43-39 deficit in an 83-67 result. Leading the team in scoring was Quinton Morton-Robertson with 16 points and three steals. Also in double-figures were Jalen Jackson (15 points; five assists) and Trey Lewis (12 points; five rebounds off the bench).
Jackson leads the Mastodons in scoring this year, posting 18.5 points per game alongside 3.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. Rasheed Bello is second with 13.3 points per game.
Northern Kentucky Norse Betting Preview
Over on the Northern Kentucky side, they limped to a 2-6 opening run across their first eight games. Those losses came from Florida State, Purdue, Nicholls State, Cincinnati, Charleston, and Akron. After wins versus IUPUI, Cumberland KY, Norfolk State, Detroit Mercy and South Carolina State, the Norse took another loss versus Robert Morris.
On Sunday versus Robert Morris, Northern Kentucky came out on the wrong end of a marathon. The Norse were down 36-32 at the break, then forced overtime with 41 second-half points. When the dust settled after three overtime periods, Northern Kentucky had a 97-93 defeat. LJ Wells doubled up in the loss with 19 points and 13 rebounds, as did Sam Vinson with 12 points and 14 rebounds. Keeyan Itejere added 13 boards of his own as well.
Trey Robinson is at the top of scoring for the Norse this year. He’s got 15.3 points per game in 14 total outings.
Why the Northern Kentucky Norse will win
- Northern Kentucky has won each of its last six home games.
Why the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons will win
- Purdue Fort Wayne has won six of its last seven games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
- Northern Kentucky has lost the first half in four of its last five day games.
Fort Wayne vs Northern Kentucky Prediction
I’ll lean toward the Norse. Northern Kentucky is coming off a tough loss versus a decent Robert Morris team, shooting a tepid 40.7 percent from the field and 63.3 percent (19-of-30) from the line. The Norse bagged a whopping 65 rebounds along the way, but also coughed up 23 turnovers for 18 Colonials points. The loss halted a five-game win streak for Northern Kentucky. Still, they’ve hit 71 or more points in four of the last five games.
As for Fort Wayne, they posted an odd win over Green Bay in their last game, despite giving up 57.1 percent shooting and getting out-rebounded 30-26 by the Phoenix. The Mastodons scored 26 points off 17 Green Bay turnovers and shot an excellent 55.6 percent (15-of-27) from 3-point range. Fort Wayne is scoring great these days; they’ve hit 77 or more points in seven of their last eight games, going 6-2 in that time. That said, the Mastodons are still giving up some pretty decent points totals on the other side. If Northern Kentucky can get their offense going here, I think the Norse can power one out.
Andrew Jett's Pick: Northern Kentucky Norse -1
