Northern Iowa Panthers versus UNLV Rebels CBS TV NCAA Tournament College Basketball Sports Betting Odds Pick Preview

Published on March 15, 2010 by admin · No Comments

It will be a mid major battle in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament when the Northern Iowa Panthers of the Missouri Valley conference playing the UNLV Rebels from the Mountain West conference on Thursday night. This college basketball game will tip off at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City Oklahoma at 7:10PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by CBS.

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The point spread was opened by the LVSC college basketball odds makers and it was the Northern Iowa Panthers coming in as a 1 ½ point betting favorite with the over under coming in at 114 ½.

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The college basketball betting public has come in early on the side of the Mountain West team, as the UNLV Rebels are currently 1 ½ point betting favorites. Totals bettors will find no movement, as the over under is still lined at 114 ½ for the college basketball betting public to wager into.

Money line gamblers on the side of the UNLV Rebels will find –125 odds with the road underdog Northern Iowa Panthers bringing back +105 to pull off the upset win without the need for taking the points.

This will be the first ever meeting between the UNLV Rebels and Northern Iowa Panthers.

Our statistical breakdown will be based on each teams play against NCAA Tournament teams only.

The UNLV Rebels enter play in the NCAA Tournament with a 25-8 overall record and 11-5 in Mountain West conference play. The Rebels competed against 10 NCAA Tournament teams and finished with a 5-5 overall record. In those games UNLV averaged 67 points per game while allowing 68.9. UNLV converted on 42.1% of their shots while allowing their opponents just 42.6%. From the three-point line the Rebels converted on 33.3% of their shots and hit on 71.5% from the charity stripe against tournament teams.

Northern Iowa completed regular season play with a 28-4 overall record and 15-3 versus Missouri Valley conference clubs. The Panthers faced off with 2 NCAA Tournament clubs and finished 2-0 against those clubs. The club averaged 65.4 points per game against those 2 clubs and converted on 42.4% of their shots. They played weakly on defensive side against tournament teams allowing 46.6% shooting. The Panthers do shoot well at the free throw line converting on 76.1% of their shots.

After going through a three game losing streak the UNLV Rebels finished strongly with a 6-1 record down the stretch. They opened play in the Mountain West conference tournament with a 73-61 victory as a 13-point favorite over the Utah Utes in the quarterfinals. They then competed against archrival BYU Cougars and came away with a 70-66 victory as a 1-point underdog. In the finals of the Mountain West conference it was a 55-45 loss to the San Diego St Aztecs in a game played on UNLV’s home court. It was a poor shooting game for the Rebels as the team converted on just 32.7% from the field.

Northern Iowa finished with 4 straight wins and won 6 of their past 7 games. The Panthers began play in the Missouri Valley conference with a 55-40 victory over Drake as a 10-½ point favorite. They followed that up with a 57-40 victory over the Bradley Braves as an 8-½ point favorite in the semifinals. The Panthers then squared off with the Wichita St Shockers and came away with a 67-52 victory as a 3-point betting favorite in the finals to earn the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

It is worth noting that the Panthers allowed no better than 33.3% shooting in their three games in the Missouri Valley conference tournament. The MVC only sent 1 team into the NCAA Tournament while the Mountain West has sent 4 teams to the dance.

Trend: Northern Iowa Panthers are 4-1 to the under in their past 5 games

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