It is a matchup of top teams in college hoops on Saturday, as the No. 3 Iowa Hawkeyes take on the No. 1 Gonzaga Bulldogs in a neutral site game in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on ESPN. Both teams come into this game unbeaten, as the Hawkeyes are 6-0, while the Bulldogs are 3-0. It should be a high scoring contest, as Iowa is second in the country, averaging 100.5 points per game, while Gonzaga is 10th in the nation, averaging 93 points per contest. Let’s look at the game between the Hawkeyes and Bulldogs and college basketball picks.
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Iowa Hawkeyes
The Hawkeyes get their biggest test of the season on Saturday as they take on the top-ranked Bulldogs. Head coach Fran McCaffery just got his 200th win as Iowa’s men’s basketball coach Sunday, as the Hawkeyes routed Northern Illinois. “Now it gets a lot tougher,” McCaffery said to the media. Iowa is averaging 100.5 points per game and they have won their games by an average margin of 32 points per contest. Iowa is giving up 68.5 points per game. They have made 51 percent of their field-goal tries, and they are averaging 11.7 3-pointers per contest. They are 5-1 ATS with all six of their games going over the total.
“I’ve been looking forward to it ever since I heard we were playing them,” said Iowa forward Joe Wieskamp to the media about Gonzaga, “All I can say is I’m really excited for it. I know our whole team is.” The Hawkeyes have an All-American player in forward Luka Garza who is averaging 29.2 points per game.
Gonzaga Bulldogs
The Bulldogs come into this game at 3-0 and ranked No. 1in the country. Gonzaga has wins this season over Kansas, Auburn and West Virginia. Three of their other games were cancelled due to COVID-19. The Bulldogs have not played a game since December 2 so they could come into this contest a bit rusty. The Bulldogs are averaging 93 points per game and giving up 79.7 points per contest. They are led in scoring by Drew Timme who is averaging 23.3 points per game. Gonzaga is 2-1 ATS this season with two of their three games going over the total.
Player to Watch
The best player on the floor on Saturday will be Iowa’s Luka Garza. He is considered the top big man in the country. He was averaging over 30 points per game until the game against Northern Illinois when he was taken out early as the Hawkeyes had a huge lead. Gonzaga has shown very little ability to play defense this season and Garza should have a huge game on Saturday. Not only can Garza score, but he can also rebound and he can make plays for his teammates. He averages 9 rebounds per game and 1.2 assists per contest.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
Iowa and Gonzaga have been very impressive so far this season, but the early edge has to go to Iowa because they have played more games. They also have the best player in this game in Garza and Gonzaga doesn’t have anyone who can keep him in check. I will take Iowa plus the points in this contest. I also can’t see anything other than an extremely high scoring game, so even though this will be a high total, I don’t think it matters, so I will go over the total.
College Basketball Odds: Iowa 90, Gonzaga 85
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