Northern Illinois vs Kent State Prediction 1/3/2026 Today’s College Basketball Picks

The Northern Illinois Huskies and the Kent State Golden Flashes meet Saturday in college basketball action from Kent State Mac Center. Here’s a Northern Illinois vs Kent State prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Northern Illinois vs Kent State pick. We will examine the recent form and player performances for both teams, as well as the recent betting trends and streaks pertaining to this matchup. As we conclude, we will tie it all together with a summary that produces a sensible pick for a favorable betting outcome in this game.

Northern Illinois Huskies Betting Preview

Northern Illinois kicked off their season on a 3-3 run. The losses in that time came courtesy of Wisconsin, Grand Canyon and Northern Iowa. The Huskies would lose to Austin Peay, Lindenwood, Bradley and Elon in the next four before wins over East-West U and Central Michigan. In their first 12 outings of the year the Huskies posted a 5-7 overall record.

In their Wednesday game versus Buffalo, the Huskies were outscored 43-29 in the first half alone. Northern Illinois kept the pace from there with 38 more points but ended up losing 81-67 in the end. Dylan Ducommun led the team with 19 points, four assists and three rebounds while Taj Walters had 13 points. Makhai Valentine added 11 points with six boards as well.

Kent State Golden Flashes Betting Preview

Over on the Kent State side, they lost to Troy in their opener. The Flashes then hit a win streak over Cornell, UNC Wilmington, Cleveland State, Wright State, Eastern Kentucky, Cleveland State again, Penn State-Shenango, Austin Peay and Roberts Wesleyan. Since then it’s been a 1-2 run with losses to Portland and Purdue, giving the Flashes a 10-3 overall record this year.

In the Purdue game on Monday the Golden Flashes entered the second half with a 51-27 deficit. Kent State didn’t get any closer than that on a 50-33 run from there and took the loss 101-60 in the end. Jahari Williamson put up 10 points with four rebounds. Morgan Safford also reached double-digits with 10 points and two boards, and Quinn Woidke had nine points with four rebounds.

Northern Illinois Huskies @ Kent State Golden Flashes Betting Trends: January 3, 2026

Why the Kent State Golden Flashes will win

• Northern Illinois has lost each of its last 15 Saturday road games.
• Kent State has won each of its last seven games at Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Northern Illinois has lost the first half in five of its last six games against the Mid-American Conference.

Northern Illinois vs Kent State Prediction

I’ll stay with Kent State. The Flashes weren’t going to do much against Purdue at Mackey Arena, and they didn’t. Kent State shot a tepid 34.4 percent from the field with a 39-27 rebounding deficit and 14 turnovers in that one while giving up 56.3 percent shooting on the other side. In short, the game wasn’t close. That said, Kent State has performed well in comparable matchups this year. The Flashes have been below 70 points in consecutive games now though, so it’d be nice to see them hang a nice total here.

As for Northern Illinois, they couldn’t get past a pretty good Buffalo team in their last outing, shooting 41.1 percent from the field with 21.9 percent (7-of-32) from outside. The Huskies had 14 turnovers along the way but did well from the line (14-of-16 for 87.5 percent). The 67 points in the loss halts a streak of 74 or more points in three straight games (a 2-1 run).

Andrew Jett's Pick: Kent State Golden Flashes TBA