Northern Illinois Huskies vs Akron Zips Prediction, 2/17/2022 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Northern Illinois Huskies vs Akron Zips

Date: Thursday, February 17, 2022

Location: James A. Rhodes Arena in Akron, OH

TV: ESPN+

James A. Rhodes Arena is the location where the Akron Zips (16-8) will attempt to defeat the Northern Illinois Huskies (7-16) on Thursday.

The Northern Illinois Huskies stepped onto the hardwood against Ball State and earned the victory with a final of 64-58 in their last contest. With respect to fouls, the Huskies ended up finishing with 23 while Ball State racked up 19 fouls. They converted 2 of their 15 tries from distance. Ball State went 66.7% at the charity stripe by burying 18 of their 27 attempts. Moreover, Ball State snagged 29 boards (10 offensive, 19 defensive), but didn't notch a block. Ball State earned 7 assists and had 11 steals for this game. In reference to the defense, Northern Illinois allowed the other team to go 35.2% from the field on 19 of 54 shooting. They also doled out 9 assists in the matchup in addition to forcing 14 turnovers and having 7 steals. In relation to grabbing boards, they earned 31 with 5 of them being on the offensive end. From the charity stripe, the Huskies knocked down 17 of 24 tries for a rate of 70.8%. Northern Illinois finished the contest having earned a 42.6% FG percentage (20 of 47) and converted 7 out of their 18 shots from beyond the perimeter.

Keshawn Williams is a guy who was a factor in this matchup. He walked away with 19 points on 6 of 14 shooting. He played for 36 minutes and also pulled down 5 rebounds. He finished the contest at 42.9% from the field and dished out 2 dimes.

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Northern Illinois enters this game with a record of 7-16 this year. They are turning it over 14.4 times per contest and as a group they commit 20.5 fouls per game. As a team, Northern Illinois is pulling in 32.3 boards per contest and has accounted for 249 assists so far this year, which is 330th in college hoops in terms of passing. The Huskies are shooting 33.3% on shots from distance (145 of 435) and 67.1% from the free throw line. They currently have an average of 63.9 points per game (328th in the country) while hitting 41.4% from the field.

On the defensive end of the court, the Huskies are able to force 13.8 turnovers per game and they draw 17.4 fouls. They are currently ranked 177th in the nation in giving up assists to the opposition with 306 relinquished on the year. The Huskies are giving up an opponent FG percentage of 44.8% (570 of 1,273) and they concede 36.1 boards per game as a basketball team. They are conceding 32.3% on three-point shots and they are 267th in Division 1 in opponents PPG (72.3).

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Akron Zips went home defeated by a final of 61-57 against Western Michigan. The Zips were able to snag 30 defensive rebounds and 12 offensive boards totaling 42 in this contest. They coughed up the ball 11 times, while recording 4 steals for this game. Western Michigan was called for 19 personal fouls for the matchup which got the Zips to the charity stripe for a total of 23 shots. They were able to bury 12 of the free throws for a percentage of 52.2%. In reference to shooting from 3-point land, Akron made 7 of 27 tries (25.9%). At the conclusion of this game, the Zips finished shooting 19 for 58 from the floor which had them at 32.8%. The Zips permitted Western Michigan to bury 21 out of 65 tries from the field which left them with a shooting percentage of 32.3% in the matchup. They shot 36.4% from three-point range by connecting on 8 out of 22 and ended up going 11 of 17 from the charity stripe (64.7%). In regard to how they attacked the glass, Akron allowed Western Michigan to collect 45 overall (14 offensive).

Enrique Freeman ended up being a factor for the Zips for this game. He converted 6 of 11 for the matchup giving him a rate of 54.5%, and accumulated 18 rebounds. He scored 16 points in his 42 minutes of playing time and added 3 dimes in the game.

Akron has a win-loss mark of 16-8 for the year. The Zips are committing 15.9 fouls per contest and they go 66.7% from the free throw line. Their rate of earning assists is at 12.3 times per contest (237th in the country) and they are giving up possession 11.9 times per contest. Akron has 1,695 points for the campaign (70.6 per game) and they snag 36.2 rebounds per game. When it comes to executing on offense, the Zips are shooting 45.5% from the floor, which is ranked 104th in the nation.

The Zips defensively are ranked 28th in D-1 in points allowed per contest with 62.8. They have forced 12.0 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 41.9% from the field (125th in college basketball). The Akron defense allows 35.1% on 3-point attempts (161 of 459) and their opponents are connecting on 70.2% of their foul shots. They relinquish 9.3 assists and 31.2 rebounds on a nightly basis, which has them ranked 8th and 35th in college basketball.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Northern Illinois

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