Like the Shockers in this spot. Revenge game for Wichita St. 63-59 loss @ home as 7 point fave back on 12/30. Cousnard (sp?) is healthy now- they need this one to keep tourney hopes alive. They are the better side- they will get it straight up tonight!
WICHITA ST +150
- Thread starter Dr. Fade
- Start date
FYI-
Things are starting to look all too familiar for the Northern Iowa Panthers.
They opened last year 18-3 straight up, 11-5-1 against the spread and in the driver?s seat for the conference championship. But the team got tired down the stretch and the Panthers finished the regular season by losing five of nine games straight up and six of nine against the spread.
Four starters played close to 30-plus minutes per game for the Panthers last season and the regular rotation consisted of only six or seven players. Northern Iowa faded so badly that it had its three lowest scoring outputs of the season in each of its last three games, scoring 51, 49 and 45 points.
A hot start still kept the Panthers in the NCAA Tournament, but at 14-6 straight up and 8-9 against the spread this season, they can?t afford the same kind of slide. Unfortunately, this year?s downturn is already starting and Northern Iowa again has four starters averaging more than 29 minutes per game.
Bench production is also sliding. Northern Iowa had just seven bench points in a 74-61 loss at Drake as a 1 ?-point favorite on Saturday and five bench points in a 56-54 loss at Southern Illinois as a 7 ?-point underdog last Tuesday.
The Panthers have now lost four of their last six games both straight up and against the spread. They host the Wichita State Shockers on Tuesday night.
Road games like the one on Saturday against a 12-10 Drake team is a perfect example of why short-handed teams like the Panthers struggle in Missouri Valley Conference play. The conference doesn?t have a team with a losing overall record and every team is winning at least 72 percent of its games straight up on its home court.
?There are no easy home games in the Missouri Valley conference,? says ***********...******. ?Every gym in the conference is a tough place to play. There is a real cumulative effect both physically and mentally when you are playing those games.?
The Panthers haven?t won a conference game by more than 10 points this season (their biggest win was 74-64 at home against Indiana State in a game they led by just three at halftime). Even then they failed to cover the 11-point spread. That game saw two Northern Iowa starters, Eric Coleman and Jared Josten, play fewer minutes than they have in any conference game (23 and 22 respectively).
Most teams wouldn?t risk playing two key starters so little in a game that the Sycamores actually led with six and a half minutes left, but being so short-handed means the Panthers have to pick their spots to rest players when they have the chance.
?One of the problems with playing in the conference is that there are no nights off,? says ********. ?There really isn?t much Northern Iowa can do about managing its bench because it has to play hard to win every game.?
Northern Iowa now must grind its way through its eight remaining conference games and hope somehow history doesn?t repeat itself.
Things are starting to look all too familiar for the Northern Iowa Panthers.
They opened last year 18-3 straight up, 11-5-1 against the spread and in the driver?s seat for the conference championship. But the team got tired down the stretch and the Panthers finished the regular season by losing five of nine games straight up and six of nine against the spread.
Four starters played close to 30-plus minutes per game for the Panthers last season and the regular rotation consisted of only six or seven players. Northern Iowa faded so badly that it had its three lowest scoring outputs of the season in each of its last three games, scoring 51, 49 and 45 points.
A hot start still kept the Panthers in the NCAA Tournament, but at 14-6 straight up and 8-9 against the spread this season, they can?t afford the same kind of slide. Unfortunately, this year?s downturn is already starting and Northern Iowa again has four starters averaging more than 29 minutes per game.
Bench production is also sliding. Northern Iowa had just seven bench points in a 74-61 loss at Drake as a 1 ?-point favorite on Saturday and five bench points in a 56-54 loss at Southern Illinois as a 7 ?-point underdog last Tuesday.
The Panthers have now lost four of their last six games both straight up and against the spread. They host the Wichita State Shockers on Tuesday night.
Road games like the one on Saturday against a 12-10 Drake team is a perfect example of why short-handed teams like the Panthers struggle in Missouri Valley Conference play. The conference doesn?t have a team with a losing overall record and every team is winning at least 72 percent of its games straight up on its home court.
?There are no easy home games in the Missouri Valley conference,? says ***********...******. ?Every gym in the conference is a tough place to play. There is a real cumulative effect both physically and mentally when you are playing those games.?
The Panthers haven?t won a conference game by more than 10 points this season (their biggest win was 74-64 at home against Indiana State in a game they led by just three at halftime). Even then they failed to cover the 11-point spread. That game saw two Northern Iowa starters, Eric Coleman and Jared Josten, play fewer minutes than they have in any conference game (23 and 22 respectively).
Most teams wouldn?t risk playing two key starters so little in a game that the Sycamores actually led with six and a half minutes left, but being so short-handed means the Panthers have to pick their spots to rest players when they have the chance.
?One of the problems with playing in the conference is that there are no nights off,? says ********. ?There really isn?t much Northern Iowa can do about managing its bench because it has to play hard to win every game.?
Northern Iowa now must grind its way through its eight remaining conference games and hope somehow history doesn?t repeat itself.
Fade,
Where have you been? I have called you a couple times, but not gotten a return call. Nice call on the Shockers! You were all over this call as they won easily.
Where have you been? I have called you a couple times, but not gotten a return call. Nice call on the Shockers! You were all over this call as they won easily.
