Vermont vs Northern Iowa Odds, Lines, and Spread (Nov. 11)
- Northern Iowa is a 2.5-point home favorite over Vermont on Thursday night
- UNI lost its opener to Nicholls while Vermont has yet to play
- A look at the matchup can be found below with a prediction
Northern Iowa will try to shake off an opening-night loss when it hosts Vermont at 6:00 pm.ET, Thursday, at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls.
On Tuesday night, Northern Iowa dropped a 62-58 decision to Nicholls at home. However, the Panthers are a small favorite Thursday.
Vermont, meanwhile, will be playing its opener after going 10-5 in the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season. The Catamounts tied for the regular season title in the America East Conference then were knocked off by Hartford in the semifinals of the conference tournament.
Vermont vs Northern Iowa Odds
| Team | Moneyline | Spread | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vermont | +120 | +2.5 (-110) | Over 135.5 (-110) |
| Northern Iowa | -145 | -2.5 (-110) | Under 135.5 (-110) |
Odds as of November 10th at BetMGM.
Vermont Ready for Another Title Run
Vermont is favored to win a fifth straight AEC regular season title as it has four returning starters.
Leading the way is senior forward Ryan Davis, who was the conference Player of the Year last season. He was second in the AEC in scoring at 18.5 points a game and first with 58.6 field goal percentage.
Vermont’s Ryan Davis has to the the front runner for POY in the @AmericaEast.
6’8 JR is averaging 18.6PPG & 6.5RPG while shooting 57% from the field & 41% from 3PT.
The ILL. natives numbers have jumped dramatically in a year where Vermont needed a steady hand. @UVMmbb @NCAA pic.twitter.com/hIgwhPZ0tU
— Nxt1sColin (@Nxt1sColinBrown) February 23, 2021
Davis also pulled down 6.3 rebounds a game and shot 41.5% on three-point attempts.
Senior point guard Ben Shungu was a second-team all-AEC pick in 2020-21. He had averages of 10.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists.
Ben Shungu of @UVMmbb was named to the America East Preseason All-Conference Team! #AEHoops pic.twitter.com/7eb7xSfbWw
— #AEHoops (@AEHoopsNews) November 5, 2021
Guard Justin Mazzulla, now a senior, started for Vermont last season after transferring from George Washington. He scored 8.3 points a game.
Vermont is counting on senior forward Isaiah Powell to take some off the load off Davis in the frontcourt. A year ago, he averaged 7.6 points and 5.2 rebounds.
Opener to Forget for UNI
Northern Iowa struggled offensively in its opening night loss. The Panthers shot just 30.0% (15 for 50) from the field against Nicholls, a putrid 13.0% (3 of 23) from three-point range and 65.8% (25 of 38) from the free throw line.
Austin Phyfe was one of the few bright spots for UNI as he scored a game-high 20 points and had a team-high nine rebounds. Yet that outing was blemished by the junior forward missing eight of 14 foul shots.
Phyfe and the other four starters all return from last season’s team that finished a disappointing 10-15. Two seasons ago, Northern Iowa won the Missouri Valley Conference championship while going 25-6.
Austin Phyfe (@Aphyfe50) gets the game tying hook shot for Northern Iowa with 1 second left and sends their game to OT against Illinois State pic.twitter.com/li4poi1SEn
— NCAA Buzzer Beaters & Game Winners (@NCAABuzzerBters) February 28, 2021
Phyfe was a key part of that title team along with three other current starters – senior guards Trae Benbow and Tywhon Pickford and junior guard AJ Green.
Green was the MVC Player of the Year in 2019-20 but was limited to three games last season before undergoing hip surgery. He looked rusty Tuesday night, connecting on just 1 of 14 field goal attempts and missing all seven shots from three-point range.
Thirteen straight missed shots? For AJ Green? "I've never even seen him miss three shots in a row," teammate Trae Berhow said. "That's never going to happen again. I can promise you that." https://t.co/5goQWrRz58
— DM Register Sports (@DMRsports) November 10, 2021
Pickford was the only other UNI player to reach double figures in the opener with 13 points. Berhow scored 13.0 points a game last season but was limited to seven points by Nicholls.
Sophomore forward Noah Carter and Bowen Born both had 11.2 scoring averages last season. Carter also pulled down 5.7 boards a game.
Vermont-Northern Iowa Prediction
The schools have never met before, and both have legitimate hopes of being part of March Madness in the spring.
Northern Iowa’s offense looked out of sync in its opener. Based on that brief look, Vermont getting the points seems the way to go in this game.
The Pick: Vermont +2.5 (-110)
John Perrotto has been covering and writing about sports for various outlets for over 40 years. His work has appeared in the likes of USA TODAY, ESPN.com, SI.com, Forbes.com, The Associated Press, Baseball Digest, and more. John is based out of Beaver Falls, PA.
