Northern Illinois Huskies vs Buffalo Bulls Prediction, 2/26/2022 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Northern Illinois Huskies vs Buffalo Bulls

Date: Saturday, February 26, 2022

Location: Alumni Arena in Buffalo, NY

TV: ESPN3

The Northern Illinois Huskies (8-18) are headed to Alumni Arena on Saturday where they will take on the Buffalo Bulls (17-8).

The Northern Illinois Huskies faced Eastern Michigan and ended up losing by a score of 74-72 in their last contest. With respect to fouls, the Huskies ended up finishing with 20 while Eastern Michigan recorded 16 fouls. They made 7 out of their 15 attempts from distance. Eastern Michigan finished 54.2% at the free throw line by burying 13 of 24 tries. In addition, Eastern Michigan had 32 rebounds (8 offensive, 24 defensive), but wasn't able to record a block. Eastern Michigan doled out 17 dimes and had 5 steals for this contest. In terms of the defense, Northern Illinois allowed the other team to shoot 58.7% from the field on 27 of 46 shooting. They also doled out 12 assists for the matchup in addition to forcing the other team into 20 turnovers and earning 11 steals. With regard to pulling down boards, they earned 24 with 6 of them being offensive. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Huskies buried 14 of 21 tries for a rate of 66.7%. Northern Illinois walked away from the contest having earned a 44.8% field goal percentage (26 out of 58) and made 6 of 19 3-pointers.

Keshawn Williams is one player who was a contributor for this contest. He shot 38.9% from the field but finished the game without a dime. He played 36 mins and snagged 3 rebounds. He walked away with 24 points on 7 out of 18 shooting.

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Northern Illinois will enter this matchup with a win-loss record of 8-18 this year. They turn it over 14.0 times per contest and as a team are committing 20.4 fouls per game. As a unit, Northern Illinois is collecting 31.8 rebounds per game and has accumulated 288 dimes for the campaign, which is 315th in D-1 in terms of passing the rock. The Huskies are hitting 33.1% on three-point attempts (160 of 484) and 67.1% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 64.7 points per outing (323rd in Division 1) while going 42.1% from the floor.

On the defensive end of the court, the Huskies are forcing 14.0 turnovers per game and they draw 17.6 fouls. They are currently ranked 202nd in college basketball in giving up assists with 348 surrendered so far this season. The Huskies defense is giving up an opponent FG percentage of 45.5% (645 of 1,417) and they concede 35.7 boards per contest as a team. They are relinquishing 32.9% on three-point shots and they are 263rd in the country in opponents PPG (72.2).

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the Buffalo Bulls took home the win by a final score of 86-84 against Miami. Regarding rebounding, Buffalo allowed Miami to get 40 in total (15 on the offensive side). They finished the game shooting 31.8% from three-point range by connecting on 7 of 22 and ended up going 17 out of 21 at the free throw line (81.0%). The Bulls permitted Miami to convert 30 of 69 tries from the floor which gave them a percentage of 43.5% in this contest. In all, the Bulls shot 35 out of 74 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 47.3%. In the matter of shots from downtown, Buffalo made 8 out of their 20 attempts (40.0%). They were able to knock down 8 of the free throw tries for a clip of 72.7%. Miami was called for 14 fouls in the matchup which got the Bulls to the charity stripe for 11 shots. They also turned it over 12 times, while recording 8 steals in the matchup. The Bulls collected 28 defensive rebounds and 14 offensive boards for a total of 42 for the matchup.

Josh Mballa ended up having an impact for the Bulls in this contest. He buried 10 of 17 for the contest for a field goal percentage of 58.8%, and added 17 rebounds. He had 23 points in his 36 mins on the hardwood and tallied 4 dimes in this matchup.

Buffalo has a record of 17-8 on the year. The Bulls have committed 17.6 fouls every game and they go 71.4% from the charity stripe. They are earning an assist 15.4 times per game (47th in the nation) and they turn it over 13.4 times per game. Buffalo has earned 2,040 pts on the season (81.6 per contest) and they pull down 42.8 rebounds per game. In terms of offensive execution, the Bulls are hitting on 46.1% from the field, which has them ranked 74th in the nation.

The Bulls are ranked 264th in Division 1 in points given up per game with 72.3. They are forcing 12.5 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 42.1% from the field (124th in college hoops). The Buffalo defense allows 30.2% on shots from behind the 3-point line (155 of 514) and their opposition makes 70.1% of their shots from the free throw line. They allow 11.0 assists and 34.5 rebounds per contest, which is 55th and 178th in those categories on the defensive end.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Buffalo

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