North Dakota State travels to Western Illinois on Sunday, hoping to boost its 17-12 record with a victory over the Leathernecks.

This game is part of the Summit League Tournament which will decide the conference champion and help decide March Madness seedings. Sioux Falls Arena is the location for this game, which makes it a neutral-site matchup.

This season, the Leathernecks are 16-13 overall and 11-10 ATS ATS, while the Bison are 17-12 and 13-11 ATS against the number. As for the totals, Western Illinois boasts a 7-13 on the OU, and North Dakota State is 10-12-1.



View North Dakota State vs Western Illinois Odds and Stats.

Betting Line:
The Leathernecks are listed as 1-point underdogs at most sportsbooks tracked by Odds Shark.

Power Rankings / Prediction:
The Odds Shark Power Rankings have the Leathernecks at No. 228 and the Bison at No. 161 heading into this contest. Handicapping models at Odds Shark project a 72-68 result in favor of the Bison.



How They Match Up:
Offensively, the game matches up Western Illinois's No. 286 nationally ranked offense (62.4 points per game) against a Bison defense that sits as the No. 217 at 68.4 PPG. The Leathernecks have been averaging 46.1% from the field, less than the Bison have managed so far this season (49.2% on average).

Defensively, North Dakota State features the nation's No. 142-rated defense on the road, allowing 68.5 points per game. Western Illinois, meanwhile, comes in at No. 290 nationally in scoring at home.

In their last action, North Dakota State was a 77-64 loser at home against Western Illinois. They failed to cover the 8.5-point spread as favorites. Mike Felt scored 18 points in a futile effort to lead the Bison to a win (they lost 77-64 to Western Illinois at Bison Sports Arena on Saturday).

Western Illinois was a 72-51 Sportsbook in its last match at home against Nebraska Omaha. The battle between the Leathernecks and Mavericks didn’t turn out to be much of a battle at all as Nebraska Omaha was handed a 72-51 defeat on Wednesday at Western Hall.