Both the Oklahoma State Cowboys and Iowa State Cyclones enter this tilt off tough losses with the former dropping one at home on Senior Day to the No. 1 ranked Kansas Jayhawks and the latter having its six-game win streak snapped in Morgantown by the Mountaineers. These teams just met up on the last day of February in a game the Cyclones held on to win 86-83 but failed to cover. Thursday’s Big 12 Tournament action no doubt kicks off with a doozy!
This war on the floor will go down Thursday, March 9, 2017, at 12:30 p.m. ET at the Sprint Center. The game will be televised live on ESPN2. We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on Thursday’s college basketball schedule.
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The Cowpokes struggled through the first half of their Big 12 schedule in dropping their first six games and managing just a pair of covers, but after falling at home to K-State, Brad Underwood’s squad flipped the switch and dramatically improved with every passing game. From there, they went on to win five straight which included upsetting WVU in Morgantown as 10.5 point underdogs. After falling at home to Baylor, OKST rattled off another five wins but closed the season on a down note falling and failing to cover against both Iowa State and the Jayhawks. The Cowboys won and covered two of their three neutral court games
The Cyclones wrapped up their Big 12 schedule as the fourth best team playing 10 games over .500 and winning 12 of their 18 conference tilts. They started their Big 12 campaign off winning three of four, which included going into Stillwater and handing the Cowboys a 10 point defeat, but then dropped five of their next eight. Like OKST, the switch flipped after a two-point loss in Austin a game removed from upsetting Kansas in the Phog. From there, they went on to win and cover six straight and covered five of them before falling in Morgantown last Saturday. ISU won three of four neutral court games and split them against the spread.
Key Stat
175.5 – Both team’s regular season meetings averaged nearly 176 points per game. Neither defense was able to limit what the offenses tried to do. Oklahoma State knocked down 53.1 and 49.2 percent of its shots and averaged 1.37 points per possession in the two games. Iowa State countered with 47.5 and 52.2 conversion rates of its own, and averaged 1.42 points per possession. Bottom line, when these teams meet, points hit the scoreboard evidenced by the over cashing in both meetings by an average of 16.8 points per game.
Matchup to Watch
The February 28 meeting in Ames saw both squad’s explode from beyond the arc. Oklahoma State knocked down 13 of its 26 attempts with Jawun Evans knocking down 4 of his 6 with a number of them splashing the nylon late in the game. ISU answered with a 15 of 31 showing from downtown with Matt Thomas simply unconscious in converting 7 of his 11 shots. Neither of these teams defends the perimeter well, so whichever forces more opponent misses, the better shot they’ll have of winning this likely shoot-out.
Free College Basketball ATS Pick
Save for that win in Morgantown, the Cowboys have been absolutely nothing to write home about when matched up against the best the Big 12 has to offer. It got swept by Kansas and Baylor, split with West Virginia, and lost both matchups with the Cyclones. As much as I’d like to think Jawun and company have what it takes to make a run in this tournament, they haven’t showed me enough when it matters most against the best of the best.
Iowa State has had its way offensively with the Oklahoma State defense, and if it can mimic those efforts on a neutral floor, it shouldn’t have much of a problem advancing. The Clones simply just have too much firepower for the Cowboys to contend with, and though they’ve been nothing but money in the bank away from Stillwater covering at a 9-2-1 clip, this line figures to be closer to a pick ‘em and I just don’t see them coming out on top.
College Basketball Odds: Iowa State 89, Oklahoma State 85
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