Northern Kentucky vs. Cleveland State prediction and odds for Horizon League final

The Horizon League tournament was going chalk until yesterday when the top two seeds both fell in the semifinals. No. 4 Northern Kentucky knocked off No. 1 seed, Youngstown State, 75-63 and No. 3 seed, Cleveland State took down No. 2 Milwaukee, 93-80. Now it’ll be the three and four seeds in the title game with a bid to the big dance on the line.

Let’s check out the odds for the Northern Kentucky Norse and the Cleveland State Vikings at the Indiana Farmer Coliseum for the Horizon League tournament final.

Northern Kentucky vs. Cleveland State odds, spread and total

Northern Kentucky vs. Cleveland State prediction and pick

Northern Kentucky’s last loss came at the hands of Cleveland State back on February 19, 64-63. They also played exactly a month before that on January 19, Northern Kentucky won that one, 57-56. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if we have another really close game on our hands.

Cleveland State put up 93 points on Milwaukee, but that is not the norm for this team. The under was 19-11 in their games this season. That’s because they play at a very slow pace and like to work the ball inside to Tristan Enaruna who is their leading scorer. They take the second lowest number of threes in the Horizon League.

Both of these teams force a lot of turnovers, 15.6 per game for Northern Kentucky and 14.1 a game for Cleveland State, No. 1 and 2 in the Horizon League. They’re very similar teams in a lot of the ways that matter in March, but Northern Kentucky has a considerable advantage at the free-throw line, 72.5% to 67.1% and are 7-0 against the spread in their last seven games, so I’ll take the Norse, but it doesn’t feel great laying 2.5 in a matchup where we’ve already seen two one-point games this year.

Follow all Josh Yourish’s bets HERE

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change