The Northern Iowa Panthers (14-17) and Bradley Braves (23-8) meet Friday in a quarterfinal of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in St. Louis. Tip-off from Enterprise Center is at 1 p.m. ET (ESPN+). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Northern Iowa vs. Bradley odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
No. 8-seeded Northern Iowa beat Illinois State 75-62 Thursday in the opening round. The win marked just the Panthers’ 2nd since Jan. 25 and they finished 9-11 in MVC play. UNI struggled defensively, allowing a 50.3% mark from the floor in going 1-6 from Feb. 4-26.
The Braves won the league by going 16-4 in MVC play. The tournament’s top seed leads the 12-team circuit in defense, allowing just 61.3 points per game. Bradley swept 2 regular-season games from UNI and heads into the tournament on a 10-game winning streak.
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Northern Iowa vs. Bradley odds
Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 7:54 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline: Northern Iowa +400 (bet $100 to win $400) | Bradley -600 (bet $600 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): Northern Iowa +10.5 (-110) | Bradley -10.5 (-110)
- Over/Under (O/U): 135.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
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Northern Iowa vs. Bradley picks and predictions
Prediction
Bradley 73, Northern Iowa 66
Moneyline
Peg the Braves’ defense as being too far out over its skis with recent performances, and question if Bradley’s extra day of rest (the Braves haven’t played since Sunday) will become a rest/rust issue? Bradley is 0-2 straight-up when playing on 4 or more days of rest.
Consider a fractional unit (maybe 1/4?) on NORTHERN IOWA (+400).
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Against the spread
The Panthers are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 neutral-site games and the Braves are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 neutral-site games.
UNI lost to Bradley twice in the regular season (Nov. 30 and Feb. 4), but the Panthers were within 6 points in the final 10 minutes on both occasions. The way they have played lately — not only against the Braves close in that second meeting but also the way they stayed in recent games against quality MVC foes Drake and Indiana State — makes the Panthers a worthy underdog play in this spot.
Bradley can be had from distance and the mid-range. UNI can score both of those ways and perhaps in bigger doses than what shows in flat surface numbers. The Panthers have shot 34.6% on 3s since Jan. 18.
TAKE THE PANTHERS +10.5 (-110).
Over/Under
The last 8 UNI-BU games have produced 7 Overs, and that’s the lean here. However, it’s only an actionable lean at a better number for the right amount of value cushion. PASS, but look to leverage the Over if the total gets to 134.5.
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