Northern Illinois vs Ohio Prediction 1/11/25 College Basketball Picks

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Northern Illinois Huskies

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Ohio Bobcats

Recent betting trends in games played between Northern Illinois and Ohio

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Northern Illinois vs Ohio game

Northern Illinois Huskies Betting Preview

The Huskies have had quite a difficult campaign so far this year. They’ve only been able to win consecutive games once. Northern Illinois lost to Georgia Southern in their opener, then took out Holy Cross College Indiana and Monmouth in the next pair. Since then it’s been a rough 2-9 run for NIU. The two victories have come versus Benedictine University Illinois and East-West University. Otherwise, it’s been losses versus Bradley, Elon, DePaul, Valparaiso, Eastern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Illinois State, Eastern Michigan, and Kent State in that time for a 4-10 run.

Back on Tuesday in the Kent State matchup, the Huskies came out of halftime looking up at a 35-21 deficit on the scoreboard. Northern Illinois was outscored 33-29 the rest of the way, resulting in a 68-50 loss. The only starter on the team to finish in double-figures was the Huskies’ James Dent with 23 points, three rebounds, one assist, and one steal. Joe Munden came off the bench to contribute 10 points and one assist in 25 minutes of work, and Ethan Butler had nine points with five rebounds in 16 minutes on the floor during the defeat.

Ohio Bobcats Betting Preview

Over on the Bobcats’ side, they opened up the year on a rough run themselves, but they’ve since been able to right the proverbial ship. Ohio kicked things off with a 2-5 stretch featuring wins over only UNC Asheville and Portland. Otherwise, it was losses to James Madison, Illinois State, Memphis, Middle Tennessee, and Texas State. The Bobcats have been on a 5-1 run since late November though, with a lone loss to Marshall on December 14. Otherwise, it’s been wins over Robert Morris, Morehead State, Austin Peay, Muskingum, Central Michigan, and Buffalo during that time for an 8-6 overall record on the season so far.

Matched up against Buffalo on Tuesday, the Bobcats posted a 37-20 opening by halftime. Ohio cruised the rest of the way with 51 more points and ended up with a nice win on the road 88-79 by the final buzzer. Leading the team along the way was AJ Clayton with 27 points and seven rebounds alongside three blocks. Aidan Hadaway managed a double-double of 17 points and 16 rebounds with one steal. Vic Searls added 10 points, two rebounds, one assist, one steal, and one block off the bench in 16 minutes of action during the win as well.

Why the Ohio Bobcats will win

• Ohio has won each of its last 13 games at Convocation Center (OH) against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Northern Illinois has lost each of its last eight road games.
• Ohio has won the first half in 16 of its last 18 day games at Convocation Center (OH) against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Northern Illinois vs Ohio Prediction

I’ll lean toward Ohio here. Probably not touching it, though. The line's a little too thick to mess with. The Bobcats are playing pretty well lately and should be able to handle themselves against NIU. Ohio dispatched a struggling Buffalo team fairly easily in their last game, shooting 50.8 percent from the field with 45 rebounds in the win. The 16 turnovers certainly didn’t help matters, though. Still, Ohio has scored well lately with 70 or more points in six of seven games during this current 6-1 run.

As for Northern Illinois, they shot a rough 30.5 percent with a 51-32 rebounding deficit in their latest loss to Kent State. The Huskies have given up 68 or more points in all 10 losses so far this year. If Ohio can hit that threshold on Saturday, the Bobcats should be just fine.