The Northwestern Wildcats will be desperate to get back in the win column when they face Big 10 rival and fifth-ranked Iowa for the second time this season on Sunday. After recording three straight impressive upsets to kick off its conference schedule, Northwestern is struggling mightily coming into this contest. Led, by Player of the Year candidate Luka Garza, Iowa enters this matchup on a nice roll. Now, with both teams going all out for the win in this Big Ten battle, let’s find out which team is offering the best value against their College Basketball odds in this contest.
NCAAB Odds, Analysis and Predictions – No. 5 Iowa at Northwestern
Iowa Hawkeyes (11-2) Vs Northwestern Wildcats (6-5) Game Info
- When: Sunday, Feb. 17, 2021 at 12:00 PM ET
- Where: Welsh-Ryan Arena, Evanston, IL
- TV: CBS
- NCAAB Odds: TBD
Why Bet On No. 5 Iowa
Fifth-ranked Iowa has won four straight and five of six including a convincing 86-71 smackdown of No. 23 Minnesota on Sunday. Luka Garza scored a game-high 33 points to lead the way to victory while junior swingman Joe Wieskamp added 20 points. Senior guard Jordan Bohannon chipped in 19 points and a career-high 14 assists.
“You know me, it’s the zero turnovers,” Bohannon said when asked what was his best statistic of the day. “That’s something I always pride myself in, to not turn the ball over. Be steady with the ball and find guys.”
Iowa had 27 assists on 31 field goals.
“If it wasn’t for Luka making his layups, I wouldn’t have 14 assists,” Bohannon said. “I think that more than 95% of my passes were assists to him.”
Iowa ranks a stellar third nationally in scoring (91.9 ppg) while shooting 48.8 percent from the field and a blistering 39.3 percent from beyond the arc. Defensively, the Hawkeyes allow 73.2 points per game on 41.2 percent shooting from the field and 34.9 percent from downtown. The Hawkeyes are just 2-2 on the road this season.
Why Bet On Northwestern
After upsetting Michigan State, Indiana and Ohio State in its first three Big Ten games this season, Northwestern has lost four straight including an 81-71 road loss against the Buckeyes on Wednesday night in their rematch affair. Sophomore guard Chase Audige scored a career-high 25 points, but the Cats could not overcome a nine-point deficit at the half.
“Giving up 81 is not gonna cut it in the Big Ten,” Northwestern coach Chris Collins said. “We’ve got to do a better job to slow these teams down.”
Junior forwards Miller Kopp and Pete Nance scored 16 points and 12 points respectively in the loss. Northwestern averages 78.4 points per contest on 45.3 percent shooting from the field and 38.9 percent from beyond the arc. The Wildcats allow 70.0 points per game defensively on 41.9 percent shooting from the field and 33.1 percent from three-point distance. The Wildcats have gone an encouraging 5-2 at home this season.
Expert Analysis and Prediction
I was so excited for Northwestern after the Cats opened up their Big Ten schedule with three straight upsets. Unfortunately, reality has set in for the mostly young and offensively-challenged ballclub. Northwestern has been limited to 72 points or less in five straight games and that kind of modest scoring output just isn’t going to get it done against an Iowa team that is putting up almost 92 points per game. Iowa has gone 3-1 ATS over its last four and 7-3 ATS over its last 10 games overall. Northwestern has lost and failed to cover the spread in four straight. Iowa gets the road win in this matchup by 10.!
Pick: Iowa 85 Northwestern 75
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