North Dakota State Bison at Western Illinois Leathernecks Pick

The Western Illinois Leathernecks (10-12) and the North Dakota State Bison (8-13) will meet in a Summit League clash on Saturday, February 2nd, 2019. The tip-off is set for 8:00 PM ET and will be broadcasted on ESPN3. The Bison have held the upper hand in this series as they have won nine of the previous ten meetings between both parties. Most recently, North Dakota State hosted Western Illinois in early January and defeated them with ease by a score of 85-69 to generate a cover as a seven-point favorite. The Home Team has won the last four contests.

North Dakota State Bison at Western Illinois Leathernecks Overview

North Dakota State Bison

The Bison enter into this match on the heels of their first road win of the season at Oral Roberts, last Saturday. NDSU took down ORU by a score of 67-57 to generate an easy cover as the two-point chalk.

Western Illinois Leathernecks

The Leathernecks come into this contest on a two-game winning streak. Most recently, WIU earned an impressive road win at South Dakota last Saturday when they defeated the Coyotes 69-59 despite closing as a near double-digit underdog (+9).

Reasons To Back North Dakota State

The Bison have played a harder schedule compared to their counterparts, and this makes them a better choice as the more battle-tested bunch. The difference in competitive quality is most prominent in non-conference fixtures. According to KenPom, WIU’s non-conference strength of schedule sits 311th in the country. Contrarily, the Bison’s Non-Conference SOS sits at 62nd. In spite of this, the Bison still own two more wins on the season compared their opponents, and they also hold a better conference record of 4-4 SU compared to the Leatherneck’s 3-5 SU mark. Furthermore, based on the most recent meeting between the two sides, the Bison offer tremendous equity being asked to spot only a bucket here.

Reasons To Avoid Western Illinois

The fact that the Bison are being trusted by the book to play the role of the favorite here resonates strongly considering that this is a team that won just once on the road this season. Given the fact that the Leathernecks have produced two consecutive outright upsets as both a 4.5-point and then a nine-point underdog, the stock is through the ceiling on the Leathernecks. Given the fact WIU is also a savory 6-3 SU on their own court in the 2018-19 campaign, buyers will perceive WIU looking easy here with points to boot. 57% of the consensus have followed suit and have made WIU a public dog which in itself raises many red flags as it is a clear-cut sign that the Bison are undervalued.