It’s been an awful year for the Oklahoma Sooners. Oklahoma looks set to finish dead last in the Big 12 just one season after making the Final Four in one of the worst collapses we have ever seen in college basketball. For a moment, the Sooners looked like they might shock the Big 12 again and sweep West Virginia on Wednesday night, but the Mountaineers came back and put those hopes to bed. All that’s left now is ruining other teams’ seasons and next up on the list is the Iowa State Cyclones who can’t afford a loss with their fringe bubble status.
This war on the floor will go down on Saturday, February 11, 2017 at 6 p.m. ET at James H. Hilton Coliseum. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2. We will have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Saturday schedule.
College Basketball Odds at BookMaker.eu
Following the loss to West Virginia, Oklahoma has now failed to cover four straight games. The Sooners’ ATS record isn’t as bad as one would think because of a strong push at the start of conference play, but isn’t great by any means at just 9-11-1 ATS. Three of their last four have gone under the total as the team is averaging under 60 PPG in that stretch.
Iowa State followed up a huge road win in Lawrence against the Jayhawks with a devastating loss to Texas on Tuesday night. The loss effectively knocked them out of any chance they had for the Big 12 title, but this team just wants to make the NCAA Tournament at this point. Teasing the total with this team is a bad idea as 7 of their 10 games have seen the final score finish off of the total by 10 points or more.
Last Meeting
It was an exhilarating finish when these teams met just a few weeks ago in Norman. At the time, Oklahoma was looking to sniff .500, but double overtime couldn’t provide the Sooners with a win against the Cyclones.
The story for Iowa State was the performance of Deonte Burton. Burton led all scorers with 31 points and his ferocious dunk with time running out in regulation sent the game to overtime. The Sooners had no answer for him throughout the game and that can’t happen again.
Oklahoma was its own worst enemy in the prior matchup between these two sides. The Sooners turned the ball over 25 times, and only notched 13 assists. Kameron McGusty was the worst offender with no assists and 7 turnovers and it’s hard for a team to win with struggles like that.
Matchup to Watch
Neither one of these teams has a great defense. Iowa State trusts its guards to score more points than the opposition does though and usually they deliver. They are allowing over 70 PPG on the season, but scoring north of 80 on average solves a lot of problems.
The rebounding is something to keep an eye on. Iowa State was hammered on the glass by Oklahoma the last time around because of the Cyclones’ small lineup. ISU is allowing opponents to pull down 36.7 rebounds per game this season, one of the worst marks in the country, and that gives Oklahoma a shot to pull off the upset.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
Free throw shooting has been a downer for the Cyclones too. Iowa State is hitting just two-thirds of its freebies this year and that has hurt its chances to win close games. A team with this many guards shouldn’t be that bad at free throws, but one of its mainstays in the frontcourt, Darrell Bowie, has been horrible at the line this year hitting just 41.5 percent.
There are a lot of reasons to like Oklahoma here. Between the rebounding advantage, Iowa State’s troubles at the foul line, and the added pressure to beat a down Oklahoma team, it seems a prime spot for an upset.
College Basketball Odds: Oklahoma 78, Iowa State 74
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