Who’s Playing
Montana Grizzlies @ N. Iowa Panthers
Current Records: Montana 7-4, N. Iowa 6-4
How To Watch
What to Know
The Montana Grizzlies will take on the N. Iowa Panthers in a holiday battle at 8:00 p.m. ET on Monday at at McLeod Center. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Montana took a loss when they played away from home last Saturday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Tuesday. They put a hurting on Montana Tech to the tune of 89-60. For those keeping track at home, that’s the biggest victory the Grizzlies have posted since November 10th.
Meanwhile, N. Iowa waltzed into their matchup on Friday with two straight wins… but they left with three. Everything went their way against the Mavericks as they made off with a 78-58 win. The Panthers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six games by 19 points or more this season.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead N. Iowa to victory, but perhaps none more so than Trey Campbell, who went 5 for 8 en route to 20 points plus eight rebounds and five assists. Jacob Hutson was another key player, going 6 for 11 en route to 21 points plus five assists.
Montana pushed their record up to 7-4 with the victory, which was their 11th straight at home dating back to last season. As for N. Iowa, their win bumped their record up to 6-4.
Monday’s match is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Montana has been crazy accurate this season, having made 47.5% of their field goals per game. However, it’s not like N. Iowa (currently ranked second) struggles in that department as they’ve made 51.6% of their field goals this season. Given these competing strengths, it’ll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Montana is hoping to beat the odds on Monday, as the experts think they’re headed for a loss.
Odds
N. Iowa is a big 9.5-point favorite against Montana, according to the latest college basketball odds.
The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Panthers as a 9-point favorite.
The over/under is 145.5 points.
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