Ball State vs Northern Illinois Picks and Prediction – 2/21/2024

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The Ball State Cardinals are heading to NIU Convocation Center on Tuesday, where they will take on the Northern Illinois Huskies. Get the rest of our free college basketball picks here! Ball State has gone 12-13 through 25 games, placing them ninth in the MAC. The Cardinals have dropped three consecutive games, most recently suffering an 80-59 loss against Miami OH.

Basheer Jihad has been leading the Cardinals in scoring and rebounding this season, he’s averaging 19.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Ball State is scoring 74.1 points a game on 45.5% shooting from the field and an impressive 37.6% from behind the arc. The Cardinals haven’t been great on the defensive side, sitting with a 106.0 defensive rating.

The Northern Illinois Huskies have fallen to eleventh in the MAC, posting a record of 9-16. The Huskies have lost 7 of their last 10 games, most recently suffering an 85-47 loss to Kent State on Saturday. Ethan Butler scored a game-high 17 points on Saturday, while David Coit added 14 points and 3 assists.

David Coit leads Northern Illinois in points and assists this year, he’s putting up 19.0 points, 3.4 assists, and 3.4 rebounds per game. The Huskies are scoring 74.3 points a game on 44.8% shooting from the field and 33.4% from three. Northern Illinois has been extremely underwhelming on the defensive end, posting a 111.4 defensive rating.