Pick details
Northern Iowa (10-7) vs Evansville (6-11)
Game Info: Tuesday, January 14, 2025 at 8:00 pm (McLeod Center)
The Line: Betting Odds: Northern Iowa -13 — Over/Under:
The Evansville Aces and the Northern Iowa Panthers meet Tuesday in college basketball action from McLeod Center. Here’s an Evansville vs Northern Iowa prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Evansville vs Northern Iowa pick. We will examine:
The Evansville Aces’ recent form and player performance
The Northern Iowa Panthers’ recent form and player performance
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Evansville Aces
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Northern Iowa Panthers
Recent betting trends in games played between Evansville and Northern Iowa
A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Evansville vs Northern Iowa game
Evansville Aces Betting Preview
Evansville has had a good stretch of games once or twice so far this year, but overall it’s been a rough run. The Aces opened on a 1-4 stretch with a lone win over Brescia among losses to North Texas, Middle Tennessee, Radford, and Ohio State. Following consecutive victories over Green Bay and Campbell, Evansville hit the skids again, taking losses to Murray State, Western Kentucky, Chattanooga, Texas Arlington, and Ball State in succession over the next five outings. Since then it’s been a 3-2 record over the last five games for the Aces. The losses in that time have been versus Indiana State and Drake; otherwise, it’s been wins over Missouri State, Southern Illinois, and Illinois State for a 6-11 overall record through 17 games this year.
In the Drake matchup back on Saturday, the Aces came out of the break looking at a 25-20 deficit on the scoreboard. Evansville hit a 38-20 deficit the rest of the way in an eventual blowout loss of 63-40. Leading the team in scoring was Tayshawn Comer with 11 points, three rebounds, one assist, and one steal in 36 minutes. The only other player on the team to finish in double-figures during the defeat was Cam Haffner, who provided 10 points with two rebounds and three turnovers in 28 minutes on the floor.
Northern Iowa Panthers Betting Preview
Over on the Northern Iowa side, they didn’t start off so great this year themselves, but to their credit the Panthers have gotten better as of late. Northern Iowa opened the season on a 3-4 run, falling to UC Irvine, Wichita State, North Texas, and St. Bonaventure in that time. The Panthers otherwise beat Dubuque, Milwaukee, and Western Illinois. Northern Iowa would hit a nice 6-1 run over the next seven games, losing to only Washington State with wins otherwise over UIC, Northern Illinois, Omaha, Montana, Southern Illinois, and Belmont. Following losses to Valparaiso and Murray State in the next pair, the Panthers took out Illinois State over the weekend for a 10-7 overall record so far through 17 games.
Matched up against Illinois State on Saturday, the Panthers were in trouble at halftime sporting a 43-36 deficit. Northern Iowa posted a 49-41 run the rest of the way, however, notching a comeback win 85-84 in the end. Tops in scoring was Trey Campbell with 30 points, five rebounds, and two steals. Ben Schwieger (two rebounds) and Tytan Anderson (seven rebounds) each notched 14 points as well. Leading the bench scorers was Max Weisbrod with nine points and three assists in 28 minutes of work on the court.
Why the Northern Iowa Panthers will win
- Northern Iowa has won each of its last 10 games against Evansville at McLeod Center.
- Evansville has lost each of its last nine games at McLeod Center against non-AP-ranked opponents.
- Evansville has lost the first half in seven of its last eight road games.
Why the Evansville Purple Aces will win
- Northern Iowa has lost the first half in each of its last three games against non-AP-ranked opponents.
Evansville vs Northern Iowa Prediction
I’m sticking with Northern Iowa. The Panthers eked out a dramatic win over a similarly-matched Illinois State team in their last outing thanks to an excellent 56.6 percent shooting from the floor and 11-of-12 (91.7 percent) from 3-point range. Northern Iowa was outmuscled on the boards 30-26 however (11-5 offensive) and had 11 turnovers for 17 Redbirds points. It was a much-needed victory that helped get the Panthers back on track. Northern Iowa has scored 68 or more points in 10 straight games, but they’ve also given up 70 or more in four straight (a 2-2 run). Evansville hasn’t scored very well themselves lately, so I think the Panthers will be safe cover-wise here.
