The Northern Illinois Huskies and Ball State Cardinals will play Tuesday at Worthen Arena. Tip-off from Muncie, IN, is at 7:00 p.m. ET. The Cardinals are nine-point favorites and the game total is 147 points.
NIU, 11-14 SU and 12-10 ATS, beat Western Michigan on Saturday. The Huskies are 3-2 in their past five and 7-5 in Mid-American Conference competition.
BSU, 18-7 SU and 13-10 ATS, beat Bowling Green on Saturday. The Cardinals are 5-0 in their past five and 9-3 in MAC play.
Ball State beat Northern Illinois 87-69 on Jan. 28. Both squads shot over 46 percent, but Ball State was more efficient from three (13-of-28) and dominated on the boards, outrebounding Northern Illinois 43-29, with 20 offensive rebounds. NIU also committed 20 fouls and 16 turnovers.
The Cardinals lead the series 52-33 since the 1949-50 season.
NIU is 11-14 overall but is just three games out of first place in the MAC. With a strong finish, the Huskies can put themselves in a solid position to make the NCAA Tournament as one of the top seeds in the conference tournament.
Northern Illinois blew out Western Michigan over the weekend, outscoring the Broncos 46-26 after the halftime break. The Huskies shot 52.5 percent, including 10-for-22 from three, and held the Broncos to 33.3 percent, including 19.2 percent from long range. NIU also won the rebounding and turnover battles. Sophomore guard Zarique Nutter poured in 18 points, and five other Huskies scored double figures.
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— NIU Men's Basketball (@GoHuskiesMBB) February 12, 2023
Northern Illinois scores 71.7 points per game (175th) and shoots 45.7 percent (113th), including 34.8 percent from three-point range (167th). The Huskies hit 66.8 percent of their free throws (319th) and average 30.0 rebounds (287th) with a minus 3.3 rebounding margin. NIU is 248th in the country in schedule-adjusted offensive efficiency and 113th in effective field goal percentage (51.8%).
Northern Illinois surrenders 74.6 points per game on defense (308th), and its opponents shoot 44.9 percent (266th), including 33.0 percent from three (146th). It's 227th in adjusted defensive efficiency and 313th in assist-per-turnover ratio.
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