The Northern Illinois Huskies (13-18, 9-9) and Kent State Golden Flashes (25-6, 15-3) meet Thursday in a 1st-round matchup in the Mid-American' Tournament. Tip from Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland is approximately 4 p.m. ET (ESPN+). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Northern Illinois vs. Kent State odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
Kent State enters the tournament as a 2-seed after winning 15 conference games. The Golden Flashes pushed past Akron 89-84 in overtime in the regular-season finale, and Kent State won 7 of its last 8 games overall.
Northern Illinois blasted non-tournament team Eastern Michigan in the finale by an 85-66 count as 4.5-point favorites, cashing the Over for a 3rd straight outing. NIU is a very solid 10-4 ATS in its last 14 games.
These teams met once in the regular season, with NIU posting a surprising 86-76 win in DeKalb as a 12-point underdog with the Over cashing. The underdog has cashed in 5 of the past 6 meetings overall.