Free Pick | NCAA | Wednesday | Jan. 10

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#716 Northern Iowa -8 over Illinois-Chicago 7:00 PM CT

Northern Iowa may only be 7-8 so far this season but the Panthers have played a top 50 caliber schedule as all eight losses have come against top 200 teams including playing up against North Carolina and Texas Tech. Northern Iowa has two top 100 wins in non-conference play and should round into better form as the MVC season plays on, off to a disappointing 1-3 start in league play. The offensive numbers are excellent for Ben Jacobson’s team with good shooting numbers and a low turnover rate. The defense is likely better than the numbers suggest thanks to the tough early season schedule. Illinois-Chicago is 8-7 for a similar record but facing a schedule that barely cracks the nation’s top 300. Illinois-Chicago did upset former MVC power Loyola-Chicago in November but the only win in the 1-3 MVC start came against Valparaiso, currently graded as the worst team in the conference. Zero wins have come against a team ranked as high as Northern Iowa and the Flames lost by double-digits against Cincinnati and Southern Illinois, the only two teams they have faced with a higher ranking than Northern Iowa currently has. The shooting numbers against Illinois-Chicago have been incredibly poor with foes hitting just over 27 percent from 3-point range but the schedule has featured a skewed portion of its opposition against low frequency 3-point shooting teams. This is Luke Yaklich’s fourth season with the Flames and his team ranked 205th last season and 336th the season before in 3-point defense as the current top 10 rate is not likely to sustain over time. This is also Illinois-Chicago’s first trip to Cedar Falls since 2013 as last season the Panthers and Flames only played once in Chicago, and this historically a tough venue for visitors in MVC play.