Buffalo Bulls vs Northern Illinois Huskies Prediction, 1/4/2022 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Buffalo Bulls vs Northern Illinois Huskies

Date: Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Location: NIU Convocation Center in DeKalb, IL

TV: ESPN+

The Buffalo Bulls (6-6) are headed to NIU Convocation Center on Tuesday where they will meet the Northern Illinois Huskies (3-7).

The Buffalo Bulls took the court against Akron and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 88-76 in their last contest. Buffalo finished the contest with a 51.8% field goal percentage (29 out of 56) and knocked down 9 of their 22 3-point shots. At the charity stripe, the Bulls knocked down 9 of 17 tries for a percentage of 52.9%. Concerning rebounding, they earned 19 with 3 of them being of the offensive variety. They also recorded 14 dimes in the matchup as well as forcing 11 turnovers and earning 4 steals. In regard to the defense, Buffalo allowed 48.1% from the field on 25 of 52 shooting. Akron doled out 17 dimes and had 5 steals in this game. Moreover, Akron grabbed 32 rebounds (9 offensive, 23 defensive), but wasn't able to record a block. Akron finished the contest at 75.0% at the charity stripe by knocking down 30 of their 40 shots. They also knocked down 8 of 22 tries from beyond the arc. In reference to fouls, the Bulls ended up walking away with 27 and Akron recorded 16 fouls.

Jeenathan Williams is one player who was a major factor for this game. He was able to score 19 points on 8 of 13 shooting. He played for 32 minutes and also collected 5 rebounds. He finished the game shooting 61.5% from the field and also dished out 4 assists.

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Buffalo will play this contest with a win-loss record of 6-6 this season. They turn it over 13.4 times per contest and as a team are committing 18.3 fouls every game. As a unit, Buffalo is pulling in 42.3 rebounds per contest and has earned 179 assists for the season, which is 153rd in D-1 in terms of passing. The Bulls are hitting 33.7% on three-point attempts (109 of 323) and 67.6% from the charity stripe. They currently have an average of 81.1 pts per contest (25th in Division 1) while going 45.6% from the floor.

On the defensive end, the Bulls have forced 12.4 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 17.0 fouls. They currently rank 78th in college hoops in allowing assists to the opposition with 137 surrendered on the year. The Bulls are giving up a field goal percentage of 42.0% (320 of 762) and they relinquish 36.0 boards per contest as a basketball team. They give up 33.3% on 3-pointers and they are 280th in college basketball in points per game allowed (72.8).

When they last stepped on the court, the Northern Illinois Huskies took a defeat with a final score of 61-60 when they faced UIC. The Huskies were able to snag 15 defensive rebounds and 3 offensive rebounds totaling 18 in this contest. They gave up possession of the ball 12 times, while getting 9 steals in this matchup. UIC earned 16 fouls in the matchup which took the Huskies to the charity stripe for 13 shots. They were able to make 9 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 69.2%. In relation to shots from beyond the perimeter, Northern Illinois converted 3 of their 9 tries (33.3%). When the final whistle blew, the Huskies walked away from this one shooting 24 for 53 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 45.3%. The Huskies allowed UIC to convert 23 of their 56 attempts from the field which gave them a percentage of 41.1% for the matchup. They wrapped up this game 20.7% from distance by going 6 of 29 and ended up going 9 of 13 at the free throw line (69.2%). Regarding team rebounding, Northern Illinois permitted UIC to get 37 in all (11 offensive).

Keshawn Williams ended up having an impact for the Huskies in this contest. He converted 11 of 21 in this contest for a rate of 52.4%, and accumulated 2 rebounds. He earned 25 points in his 35 mins of playing time and earned 4 assists for the matchup.

Northern Illinois has a win-loss mark of 3-7 this year. The Huskies commit 20.3 fouls every game while shooting 64.3% from the charity stripe. They are getting an assist 9.5 times per game (349th in college hoops) and they are turning it over 15.8 times per game. Northern Illinois has scored 567 points this season (56.7 per game) and they pull in 31.9 rebounds per game. When it comes to offense, the Huskies are hitting on 37.4% from the floor, which is ranked 352nd in the nation.

The Northern Illinois defense gives up 29.0% on shots from beyond the perimeter (60 of 207) and their opponents are connecting on 70.1% of their shots from the free throw line. They give up 13.8 assists and 37.9 boards per game, which has them ranked 263rd and 293rd in Division 1. The Huskies on defense are ranked 148th in college hoops in PPG given up with 67.0. They are able to force 15.2 turnovers per game and have let teams shoot 42.2% from the floor (178th in Division 1).

Who will win tonight's NCAA basketball game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Northern Illinois

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