The Bradley Braves (12-10, 6-4 MVC) and Northern Iowa Panthers (11-9, 7-3) tangle Wednesday in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The battle at the McLeod Center is slated to tip-off at 8 p.m. ET. Below, we look at the Bradley vs. Northern Iowa odds and lines, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
Bradley lost four of five outings over the front half of January but has rebounded to win four consecutive games, two of which were MVC road affairs. The Braves held opponents to a 38.5% mark from the field over their four-game win streak. Bradley rates as perhaps the best defensive team in the conference from an analytics standpoint.
The Panthers rate as one of the better offensive teams in the 10-team circuit. Northern Iowa heads into Wednesday’s tilt on a two-game win streak and has gone 7-2 while shooting 48.5% from the floor over its last nine games.
Rankings courtesy of the Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports.
Bradley at Northern Iowa odds, spread and lines
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 9:26 a.m. ET.
- Money line: Bradley +160 (bet $100 to win $160) | Northern Iowa -200 (bet $200 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): Bradley +4.5 (-115) | Northern Iowa -4.5 (-107)
- Over/Under (O/U): 138.5 (O: -115 | U: -107)
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Bradley at Northern Iowa odds, lines, picks and predictions
Prediction
Northern Iowa 70, Bradley 65
Money line
NORTHERN IOWA (-200), with the better offense and on home hardwood, are the LEAN. UNI is the best defensive rebounding team in the conference and has been improving lately on the offensive glass. The Panthers don’t thrive on defense, but they’ve also been creating more turnovers recently, and have been a much better defensive team at home.
Northern Iowa is 5-1 over its last six at home, and the one loss — in overtime versus Drake — was in a game the Panthers essentially led for a little more than 39 minutes.
Against the spread
Bradley has filed some impressive road shooting performances lately, but the smart money is on those efforts being more outlier than evidence.
BACK THE PANTHERS -4.5 (-107).
Over/Under
This tag would already mark the highest total in this series in quite some time (since before 2017). There is a LEAN on the UNDER 138.5 (-107), but there may be pressure on this number going higher yet. Consider a line-watch and a pounce — on the Under — on a figure closer to 140.
Peg this game as having fewer points than expected on put-backs, 3s, and free throws.
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