Northern Illinois AT Central Michigan
Jan 20, 2011 at 7 PM EST
Opening Line: Central Mich -5
Current Line: Central Mich -5
Opening Total: 133
Current Total: 133
Opening Moneyline: Cent Mi -240 / North Ill +200
Current Moneyline: Cent Mi -220 / North Ill +180
Both teams enter tonight’s game with losing records. Northern Illinois is 6-9, but is 2-1 in the MAC and Central Michigan is 4-12 and 1-2 in the MAC. Despite having a worse record, college basketball oddsmakers have set the line in Central Michigan’s favor. Perhaps it is because of Northern Illnois’ horrible struggles on the road.
As you would expect from two teams with losing records, both have negative point differentials. Northern Illinois is at -4.7, scoring 70.7 and giving up 75.5 a game. Central Michigan plays a slower paced game, scoring 59.4 a game and giving up 64.9 for a -5.4 differential. Bettors will be interested to know that the total for the teams’ scoring output amounts to only 124, while the line is set at 133, making a bet on the ‘under’ a good one for tonight’s game.
Some betting trends:
Northern Illinois is 2-14 in their last 16 road games. They are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 road games against Central Michigan. They are also 0-5 SU in their last 5 road games against Central Michigan. The total has gone UNDER in 4 of their last 6 games on the road at Central Michigan.
Central Michigan is 2-9 SU in their last 11 games and 2-6 SU in their last 8 games at home. They are 8-1 SU in their last 9 against Northern Illinois and 5-0 SU in their last 5 home games against Northern Illinois. The total has also gone UNDER in 4 of their last 6 games when playign at home against the Chippewas.
Northern Illinois is a bit of a one man team. They are led by 6’5″ senior guard Xavier Silas, who scores more than double of their second leading scorer with 23.6 points per game. He’s a deadly three point shooter, hitting 44.7% from behind the arc (34 of 76). He’s had a number of huge games, scoring 25 or more in 8 of the Huskies 15 games and the Huskies are 5-3 in those games, well better than their .400 win percentage. He’s also played 30 or more minutes in 13 of their 15 games and is the sole reason for their success or lack thereof. There’s really no one else on the team that is worth worrying about and Central Michigan will undoubtedly double and triple team him throughout the game.
Central Michigan is led by the duo of Trey Zeigler and Jalin Thomas who account for 54% of the Chippewas total scoring. Zeigler a 6’5″ freshman forward leads the way with 17 points per game and 5.4 rebounds per night. He’s had a number of big games and his scoring average is offset by a couple of stinkers, 5 against Temple and 6 against Wright State. On January 12th, against Toledo, he went for 30 points on 12 of 21 shooting and he has attempted 20 or more shots three times already this season. Northern Illinois’ best player Xavier Silas will have the task of guarding Zeigler and should do a good job as he is a decent defender. This marquee matchup between the two leading scorers will go a long way towards determining the outcome of the game. Whichever player can utilize their strengths and outscore the other will likely lead their team to victory.
