Northern Iowa vs Drake Prediction 1/29/25 College Basketball Picks

The Northern Iowa Panthers and the Drake Bulldogs meet Wednesday in college basketball action from the Knapp Center. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Northern Iowa vs. Drake prediction.

Northern Iowa Recap

The Northern Iowa Panthers come into this game looking to build on a 74-56 win over Indiana State last time out to improve to 13-8 on the year. After this game, Northern Iowa will head home for a game against Bradley.

Panthers Win Back-To-Back Games & 4 Of Last 5

Tytan Anderson leads the Panthers in scoring and rebounding with 14.7 PPG and 6.4 RPG while Jacob Hutson has 12.3 PPG with 3.9 RPG. Leon Bond III has added 10.4 PPG with 4.8 RPG while Trey Campbell’s chipped in 10.9 PPG with 4.1 RPG and a team-high 3 APG to lead the Panthers in assists and to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Northern Iowa so far this season. Ben Schwieger also has 9.6 PPG and 4.4 RPG as well on the year. As a team, Northern Iowa is averaging 75.8 PPG on 50.1% shooting from the field, 36.9% from three, and 71.5% from the foul line this season.

Why the Northern Iowa Panthers will win

• Northern Iowa has won four of its last five games.

Drake Recap

The Drake Bulldogs come into this game looking to build on a 69-62 win over Missouri State last time out to improve to 18-2 on the year. After this game, Drake will head on the road to take on Southern Illinois.

Bulldogs Win 6th Straight

Bennett Stirtz leads the Bulldogs in scoring and assists with 17.7 PPG and 6.5 APG along with 4 RPG while Mitch Mascari has 11.9 PPG and Daniel Abreu has 11.3 PPG with 3.2 RPG to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for Drake up to this point in the year. Tavion Banks has added 8.9 PPG with 4.5 RPG while Cam Manyawu has 7.9 PPG with a team-leading 5.9 RPG to lead the Bulldogs on the glass up to this point in the year. As a team, Drake is averaging 71.4 PPG on 48.7% shooting from the field, 35.4% from three, and 70.9% from the foul line so far this season.

Why the Drake Bulldogs will win

• Drake has won each of its last 19 night games at Knapp Center.
• Northern Iowa has lost each of its last three night games at Knapp Center.

Northern Iowa vs. Drake Prediction

I’m on Northern Iowa and the points in this game. I think that Drake likely wins this game at home, but the Bulldogs have been on a bit of a run where they win games, but they’re games that are a lot closer than the line suggests or that the box score indicates. Northern Iowa is likely one of the top teams in the MVC that’s going to challenge Drake for the conference title once we get into the MVC tournament, and I think this could be a bit of a preview of what we’re in store for coming up. Give me Northern Iowa and the points in this one.