Iowa State Cyclones at Iowa Hawkeyes Betting Preview
Thursday night features an intrastate battle as the No. 20 Iowa State Cyclones (7-1) take on the Iowa Hawkeyes (6-2). The Hawkeyes will host this one at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, with tipoff scheduled for 8:00 pm ET.
Iowa State comes into this contest having won two in a row. In their most recent contest, they beat St. John’s 71-60 on Sunday. In the victory, Jaren Holmes tied for a game-high with 14 points, while Aljaz Kunc and Robert Jones combined for 23.
The Hawkeyes did not fare as well in their last matchup, losing 74-62 to No. 15 Duke. In the loss, Patrick McCaffery and Dasonte Bowen scored 12 points apiece, while Filip Rebraca added 10 points for Iowa.
The Hawkeyes are the favorite in this one playing at home. They are -255 to win, while the Cyclones’ moneyline sits at +205. The spread features Iowa State +6.5 (-115), and the over/under for total points sits at 140.5.
Cyclones Rely On Strong Defense To Take Down Rivals
Defensively, Iowa State has been one of the best in the nation. They currently rank sixth in scoring defense, allowing just 56.8 points per game to opponents. Despite the solid numbers overall, their scoring defense has inflated on the road, where they have given up 71.7 points per game.
On the offensive side, the team is led by senior guard Jaren Holmes. On the year, he is averaging 14.8 points on 38.2% shooting from the field. He is also averaging 3.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.4 steals per game.
Other contributors for Iowa State include Caleb Grill (10.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.9 steals), Osun Osunniyi (10 points, 3.8 rebounds), and Gabe Kalscheur (8.4 points).
As a whole, the Cyclones have struggled a bit on offense. They rank just 149th in the nation, averaging 71.8 points per game.
Iowa Looks To Bounce Back From Defeat
After losing their last game against the Duke, the Hawkeyes look to bounce back at home, where they are 4-0 to this point.
At 6-2 overall, part of their early success has been due to an offense ranked toward the top of college basketball. Overall, they rank 10th in the nation in scoring, averaging 83.4 points per game (101.5 at home).
Leading this offensive dominance is junior forward Kris Murray. In eight games, he is averaging a double-double with 19.4 points and 10.1 rebounds. He is shooting 50% from the field and 80% from the line.
Aside from Murray, others having success on offense include Patrick McCaffery (12.8 points, 4.1 rebounds), Tony Perkins (11.7 points, 3.1 assists, 1.7 steals), and Filip Rebraca (10.3 points, eight rebounds, 1.6 blocks).
Defensively, the Hawkeyes rank 139th, allowing 68.6 points per game to opponents (64.5 at home).
Take Hawkeyes To Win And Cover
In a battle of defense versus offense, this one might come down to how well the Hawkeyes take care of the ball. The Cyclones’ defense can be relentless, but Iowa hangs its hat on taking care of the ball, as they have the lowest turnover rate in the country.
For the Cyclones, their defense has to make life tough on the Hawkeyes while also getting enough out of the offense to keep pace. On the road, that might be easier said than done.
Looking at the trends, the Cyclones are just 1-5-1 against the spread when facing Iowa, and they are just 4-16 on the road in their last 20 games, stemming back to last year.
Expect those trends to continue and take Iowa to both win and to cover the -6.5 point spread (-105).
