Xavier beat Northern Iowa by 30 last year. Weirdly, it was over two games in the span of a single week, but that’s how things go sometimes. This year, Xavier comes into the game scalding hot - winners of 11 of 12, with the only loss coming on a neutral site against #3 Arizona State - but also curiously cold, needing a furious rally to beat East Tennessee State and then holding on down the stretch against Marshall with only Quentin Goodin and a bunch of centers healthy.
UNI comes in at 8-3 and 84th in the KenPom, on a steady rise from their preseason rank of 129.