Northern Kentucky vs Oakland Picks and Odds

• The Northern Kentucky Norse (15-10, 11-7 Horizon) meet with the Oakland Golden Grizzlies (11-17, 10-10 Horizon) on Monday
• The winner of this game will move on to the Horizon League Championship Game on Tuesday
• See the odds, spread, analysis, and best bet, below

The Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis, Indiana, will be the setting when the Northern Kentucky Norse take on the Oakland Golden Grizzlies on Monday at 9:30 pm ET.

The Norse have dominated this series recently, winning each of the last four matchups including a 73-70 win in February of 2021. Northern Kentucky is a slight 1-point favorite in this matchup.

Northern Kentucky vs Oakland Odds

Odds as of March 7th at FanDuel

Northern Kentucky is in good form at the moment, winners of three of their last four games. They advanced to this round by beating the Detroit Mercy Titans 70-69 at the buzzer in the opening round.

Oakland is in the exact same form as the Norse as they have also won three of their last four games. They needed overtime to advance in their 87-83 win over Youngstown State the first round.

Northern Kentucky Are Survivors

As the fourth seed in the Horizon League tournament, the Northern Kentucky Norse are not expected to win. Still, this is March and in college hoops, all teams have to do win their conference and they have a shot at the national title. It’s not a great shot, every win keeps the clock running on their season. The Norse needed every second of the clock in the first-round game against the Detroit Thunder Mercy last Tuesday.

Check out these highlights from our big win over Detroit Mercy last night!#NorseUp pic.twitter.com/kzrivYVR4z

— NKU Men's Basketball 🏀 (@NKUNorseMBB) March 3, 2021

The game was a seesaw battle for the duration and everything that encapsulates March basketball. David Bohm only scored 11 points in the win over Detroit but none were more important than his last second put back of his own miss which catapulted the Norse out of the first round. Marques Warrick led the way in scoring for Northern Kentucky with 20 points. It was the third time in as many games that Warrick has gone over the 20-point mark.

Oakland Finds a Way to Win

After a tough month of February, the month of March has begun with a bang for the Oakland Golden Grizzlies. After only one game, they have already won half the number of games they won in the entire previous month. It wasn’t a statement win by any means as they needed overtime to get past Youngstown State 87-83 but a win in March only has to be by a point to be effective.

https://twitter.com/OaklandMBB/status/1367493991701299208?s=20

The Horizon League did not disappoint in the first round as every game was close and this game was no different. It looked more like a tennis match going back and forth for the entire first half. Only one point separated the two teams at the halftime break. The second half was more of the same as the game needed an extra five minutes to be resolved. Jalen Moore posted a double-double for the winners with 20 points and 11 assists.

Best Betting Angle

Defense is likely to be optional in this one as neither team ranks better than 281 in terms of efficiency (adjusted for opponent) according to KenPom. In fact, there weren’t many teams worse this season in terms of opponent’s points per game than Oakland. Of the 357 qualifying teams, only nine allowed more points on a per game basis than the Golden Grizzlies.

Despite the bad defense, Oakland is still alive in this tournament because of their offense. In their last three games, they have averaged 86.3 points per contest which is eleven more points than they averaged on the season. They seem to be hitting their stride at the right time and they should be able to outscore Northern Kentucky in this game.

The pick: Oakland ML (+100)