Who’s playing
Colonels Nicholls @ Northwest State Demons
Current records: Nicholls 8-5, Northwestern State 5-7
How to watch
What you need to know
Northwestern State will be in front of its home fans on Saturday, but a look at the seeding shows they might need that home-field advantage. They and Colonel Nicholls will face off in a Battle of the Southland at 4:30 p.m. ET at Prather Coliseum.
Northwestern State comes in after a wild two-game stretch: after climbing to 89 points two weeks ago, they were much more limited against Texas on Sunday. Things couldn’t have gone much worse for them as they lost 77-53 to the Longhorns. The Demons were in a tough spot after the first half, already up 41-22.
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the best came from Micah Thomas, who went 6 of 9 on his way to 19 points. He struggled to find his footing against California in December 2024, so this was a step in the right direction. Another player who made the difference was Addison Patterson, who scored 18 points and two steals.
Unsurprisingly, given the score, Northwestern State struggled to work together and finished the game with just seven assists. They were dismantled by their opponents in this department as Texas racked up 15.
Meanwhile, it was close, but on Monday, Nicholls got around Seattle for a 71-69 victory.
Northwestern State’s loss dropped its record to 5-7. As for Nicholls, they’ve been on a roll lately: They’ve won six of their last seven matchups, significantly improving to 8-5 this season.
While only Nicholls looked after their fans the last time they played, both teams kept punters happy by covering the spread. As for their next game, they should win a close contest, except for the buzzers. This will be the first time they play as road favorites this season.
Northwestern State fell short against Nicholls in their previous meeting in March 2024, losing 68-62. Can Northwestern State avenge its loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We’ll know soon enough.
Odds
Nicholls is a slight 1.5 point favorite against Northwestern State, according to the latest college basketball odds.
The punters were perfectly in tune with the betting community on this point, as the game opened with a 1.5 point spread and stayed there.
The over/under is 137.5 points.
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History of the series
Nicholls has won 9 of its last 10 games against Northwestern State.
- March 4, 2024 – Nicholls 68 vs. Northwestern State 62
- February 5, 2024 – Nicholls 73 vs. Northwestern State 66
- January 14, 2023 – Nicholls 77 vs. Northwestern State 63
- January 7, 2023 – Northwestern State 68 vs. Nicholls 48
- February 24, 2022 – Nicholls 80 vs. Northwestern State 62
- January 20, 2022 – Nicholls 69 vs. Northwestern State 58
- March 12, 2021 – Nicholls 88 vs. Northwestern State 76
- March 01, 2021 – Nicholls 87 vs. Northwestern State 71
- January 13, 2021 – Nicholls 76 vs. Northwestern State 66
- February 19, 2020 – Nicholls 73 vs. Northwestern State 69
