Murray State vs Northern Iowa Prediction 2/17/25 College Basketball Picks Today

The Northern Iowa Panthers and the Murray State Racers meet Sunday in college basketball action from the CFSB Center. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Northern Iowa vs. Murray State prediction.

Northern Iowa Recap

The Northern Iowa Panthers come into this game looking to build on an 88-73 win over Indiana State last time out to improve to 17-9 on the year. After this game, Northern Iowa will head on the road for a game against Belmont.

Panthers Win 4^th In A Row

Tytan Anderson leads the Panthers in scoring and rebounding with 14.8 PPG and 6.5 RPG while Jacob Hutson has 12.1 PPG with 4.1 RPG. Leon Bond III has added 10.4 PPG with 4.8 RPG while Trey Campbell’s chipped in 11.2 PPG with 4 RPG and a team-high 3 APG to lead the Panthers in assists and to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Northern Iowa so far this season. Ben Schwieger also has 9.5 PPG and 4.6 RPG as well on the year. As a team, Northern Iowa is averaging 74.9 PPG on 49.8% shooting from the field, 37.6% from three, and 70.5% from the foul line this season.

Why the Northern Iowa Panthers will win

• Northern Iowa has won each of its last four games.
• Murray State has lost three of its last four day games.

Murray State Recap

The Murray State Racers come into this game looking to build on a 63-53 win over UIC in their last game to improve to 13-13 on the year. After this game, Murray State will welcome Southern Illinois to town.

Racers Win Back-To-Back Games

JaCobi Wood leads the Racers in scoring and assists with 13.5 PPG and 5 APG along with 3.7 RPG while Kylen Milton has 11.6 PPG with 4.2 RPG. AJ Ferguson added 12 PPG with a team-high 5.4 RPG to lead the Racers on the glass while Terence Harcum chipped in 11.5 PPG to cap off the scoring in double figures for Murray State up to this point in the year. Nick Ellington has 8.4 PPG with 4.8 RPG while KyeRon Lindsay also has 6.9 PPG with 4.6 RPG of his own as well this season. As a team, Murray State is averaging 73.7 PPG on 44.9% shooting from the field, 35.2% from three, and 69.9% from the foul line so far this season.

Why the Murray State Racers will win

• The home team has won four of Northern Iowa’s last five games.

Northern Iowa vs. Murray State Prediction

I’m with Northern Iowa here. Murray State’s had a nice couple of wins lately, but I’m just worried that the Racers have a tendency to rely and lean too heavily on their defense to get the job done. The Racers are a solid team, but Northern Iowa for me is the more complete team and the Panthers have been able to go on the road and get the job done a fair bit in conference play this season. I’ll roll with Northern Iowa on the road in this one.