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MO Valley Highlight
By Tony George
Evansville @ Northern Iowa -12.5
One of the two losses sustained by the 10th ranked Panthers was at the hands of Evansville this season, the other loss against their 26 wins was at VCU in Overtime, and the Panthers are for real folks. A team cannot help it when they come from a mid-major and are not respected on a national level, and trust me no one in the NCAA Tourney wants to see this team in their bracket, much like Wichita State last year. Speaking of Wichita State and the Mo Valley, the Panthers and Shockers hook up on Saturday in Wichita for the rematch before the Mo Valley Tourney in St Louis, and bear in the Panthers waxed the Shockers by 16 points the last day of January.
Could this be a look ahead spot for both those teams in action tonight (?), perhaps but in this case tonight I like Northern Iowa at home on senior night to get the win but this is a ton of points and if you have watched any games since Saturday, the theme is beware of the dogs, they are biting. This Panther team is ranked 4th in the nation on overall defense and have allowed just 38% from the floor against their opponents this season, they hit big shots, have good shooters, hit the defensive glass well, and hit free throws at 72%. Fundamentally sound in all areas and well coached and they have something to play for tonight, REVENGE against an Evansville team which at times this season was a threat in this conference but as of late have fallen from grace and are in deep water tonight. Seth Tuttle is an absolute rock star player for the Panthers, leads the team in points, FG %, rebounds, assists and blocked shots. Did I mention on the year the kid has hot 63% from the floor! Again this Panther team is the real deal, mid-major or not.
Evansville is off a 19 point loss at Wichita and now travel to Northern Iowa their next game, just brutal. The Purple Aces are the third best team in this conference in my opinion at 19-9 and a respectable 6-4 SU on the road SU this season and 2-1 on neutral floors. It looks like a Panther whitewash tonight but nothing comes easy and 12.5 points is a ton of points and Evansville is 7-5-1 ATS on the road (5-2-1 ATS the last 8 in this series) while the Panthers who always carry premium numbers, are just 4-6-2 ATS at home. Evansville is good on the boards, play good defense and already are confident with a win under their belt against the Panthers and have nothing to lose here, which is a dangerous scenario. NIU is not an offensive fireworks show and they slow pace the game tempo and play good defense so laying a huge number against any team is always a concern. This is a tough spot with Senior Night going on and the biggest game in school history on deck, I will take the underdog here to make a game of it and just cover the number.
Northern Iowa 68 – Evansville 59 – TAKE THE PURPLE ACES AND THE 12.5 POINTS TO COVER THE NUMBER