Northern Iowa Panthers vs Utah State Aggies Point Spread Picks

Utah State lost leading scorer Sam Merrill from last year's 26-win team, and they've struggled to score after two games, scoring 69 and 59 points. Last season they allowed 64.1 points per game, #35 in the nation. They are 25-11-1 UNDER the total as an underdog and face a Northern Iowa squad that always plays tough defense under coach Ben Jacobson. They come off a 66-64 loss to St. Mary's, allowing 41% shooting. They won the Missouri Valley regular-season title last season when they were ranked #49 defensively allowing 64.7 points and 41.8% shooting. Play this game to stay UNDER the total.

Utah State had its toughest test of the young season playing against Arizona State and the Aggies lost 87-82 as a 2.5-point underdog last Wednesday in Las Vegas. Utah State was led by Sam Merrill with 27 points, but the rest of the team didn't do much while shooting 44.6 percent compared to 50.0 percent for the Sun Devils. Northern Iowa had won two straight before losing at Old Dominion 75-62 as the Panthers played good defense holding the Monarchs to 43.9 percent shooting, but had an off-shooting night themselves. The Panthers had played the Monarchs previously this season and beat them 54-53 with another good defensive showing and they are allowing opponents just a .418 field goal percentage. Look for the Panthers to keep this one close, so grab the big points with Northern Iowa.