Two of the top teams in the Big 12 square off on Saturday in a top 10 matchup when the No. 8 Iowa State Cyclones visit the No. 5 Houston Cougars. A change in conference membership hasn’t affected the Cougars’ play as they sit atop the standings at 14-1 looking to defend their regular season title from their debut season in the Big 12. Winners of five in a row and 18 of their last 19 games, Houston reached the 20-win mark with a 76-65 win over Baylor on Feb. 10 starting a streak of three straight payouts at the Bitcoin sportsbook. ISU takes a four-game winning streak into this matchup rebounding nicely from a stretch of three consecutive losses. ESPN will air the game that tips at 2 p.m. ET from the Fertitta Center in Houston, TX.
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Iowa State Cyclones
The most recent contest between the teams occurred last March in the title game of the Big 12 tournament. Iowa State dominated giving Houston a taste of its own medicine with relentless defensive pressure. The Cyclones won 69-41 taking two of the three meetings between the clubs. ISU opened this season winning 17 of its first 19 games with one of their setbacks by two points to current No. 1 ranked Auburn.
Their blistering start that included wins over three ranked opponents had the Cyclones as high as No. 3 in the national rankings. Then all of a sudden things went awry with three straight losses where the offense sputtered. They scored 75 points in an overtime loss to Arizona had 61 against Kansas State in a game ISU was favorite by 14.5-points and scored a season-low 52 against Kansas. It was a bad look for a team that averages more than 81 points.
The slump ending coincided with the return of Milan Momcilovic, who missed seven games with a hand injury. Momiclovic was 4 of 7 on three-point attempts scoring 14 points in an 82-52 rout of TCU. He averages just 10.4 points but Momiclovic is the deadliest three-point threat on a team that struggles from distance. The Cyclones make just 34.8 percent of their triples but do enough elsewhere to score more than 81 points per game. Curtis Jones leads five players averaging in double figures with 17.2.
Houston Cougars
Only a handful of players remain on the team that was embarrassed at the Big 12 tournament last year. One of those players is leading scorer and the backbone of the club L.J. Cryer, scored just seven points on 3 of 12 shooting in the blowout loss. Cryer tallied 18 points and six assists in Tuesday’s 80-65 win over Arizona State. The Cougars bounced back nicely from an overtime loss to Texas Tech at the start of the month, winning five in a row with payouts in the last three.
What has made the Cougars so successful over the past several years is their tireless work on defense. They are tops in the country in fewest points allowed holding opponents to 38.3 shooting from the field and 31.7 percent from behind the arc. When things go bad it’s usually due to a breakdown on the defensive end. Houston allowed an average of 78.5 points in their four losses with three of those games going to overtime. And they played standout squads in Auburn, Alabama, San Diego State and Texas Tech.
Houston does enough offensively to be considered a national champion threat. The Cougs average more than 75 points and are one of the better three-point shooting teams making nearly 40 percent from deep. Cryer gets a lot of help with Emanuel Sharp, J’Wan Roberts and Milos Uzan each averaging more than 10 points. I expect Houston to be geeked for this game with the memory of that loss that denied them the conference championship a motivating factor.
Iowa State at Houston Same Game Parlay Picks
Houston ATS
Iowa State / Houston UNDER
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