Oakland Golden Grizzlies at Northern Kentucky Norse Pick

The Oakland Golden Grizzlies (11-14) and the Northern Kentucky State Norse (19-6) will face off in an instrumental Horizon League collision. The match will take place on Saturday, February 9th, 2019 with a scheduled tip-off time of 7:00 PM ET. Oakland enters on a two-game winning streak and a two-game cover streak against Northern Kentucky. The two teams last met in January when the Golden Grizzlies hosted the Norse and staged a 76-74 upset as a 4.5-point underdog.

Oakland Golden Grizzlies at Northern Kentucky Norse Overview

Oakland Golden Grizzlies

The Golden Grizzlies enter into this contest on the heels of a 76-62 loss at Wright State on Thursday. Oakland was unable to produce a cover as a 7.5-point underdog. The loss diminished Oakland’s conference record to 7-5 SU.

Northern Kentucky State Norse

The Norse come into this contest with style as they pummeled Detroit Mercy in conference action on Thursday by a score of 97-65 when they hosted the Titans in Highland Heights. The victory ended a two-game NKU losing streak and a three-game skid against the spread. The win also reinforced NKU’s position atop the Horizon League standings with a stellar 9-3 SU conference record.

Reasons To Avoid Oakland

Several factors make the Golden Grizzlies a dubious proposition here. First, the Grizzlies are just 5-8 SU on the road this season and are up against a Northern Kentucky team that is undefeated on its own court (14-0 SU). When you combine this with the fact that Oakland could easily come into this game with a bit of travel rust compared to the Norse who have been enjoying their home-stand, the Grizzlies are more susceptible to come in flat. Nevertheless, the consensus is putting stock in Oakland’s winning streak and the upset that occurred just a month ago with 60% of the public have taken in the points which has also diminished the market by two points. This is a red flag and clear-cut sign that the Norse could be undervalued as the chalk.

Reasons To Back Northern Kentucky

All the metrics would suggest that the Norse have many advantages to their credit which exceed home court. The Norse own the deeper bench, and they play a better brand of basketball on both sides of the court. Most notably of all, Northern Kentucky is the more physical team on the board in creating second chances while eliminating those opportunities for the opponents. When glancing at rebounding margins for both sides, the Golden Grizzlies sit at -5.7 compared to the Norse who sit at +3.3. This could translate to a nine-rebound margin which could further lead to a blowout if NKU makes the most of these enhanced possessions.