College Basketball Information
Memphis won last five games since losing at Oklahoma State, avenging loss to OSU at Disney 12 days later; Tigers are 3-0 at home, winning by 26-39-20 points over lesser foes. Ark-Little Rock is 1-4 on road, losing by 30 at Florida, 20 at Oklahoma; they're shooting only 27.8% from arc. Memphis is #15 in country, forcing turnovers 23.2% of the time.
Home side won nine of last ten Iowa-Iowa State games; Hawkeyes lost last five visits to Ames by 8-12-9-0-10 points. State is 8-0 after coming back from 18 down in second half to beat Northern Iowa in OT Saturday on neutral floor- they're 2-0 vs top 100 teams, beating Michigan by 7, BYU by 2. Iowa is 10-1 with six of ten wins vs teams outside top 200.
Colorado beat Kansas, in-state rival Colorado State last two games, now face Elon squad that is best team in what is down year in SoCon-- five of their last six games were decided by 7 or less points. Elon is making 40% from arc; they're 0-2 vs top 100 teams, losing by 14 to Charlotte, 7 to Drexel. Buffs are 6-0 vs teams outside top 100 (four wins by 23+).
Armadillosports.com
Iowa at Iowa State: What Bettors Need to Know
By Covers.com
Iowa Hawkeyes at Iowa State Cyclones (-3)
Basketball in the state of Iowa is as energized as it has been in years, and that excitement will be taken to the ultimate level Friday when Iowa visits Iowa State in a matchup of teams with a combined record of 17-1. The 16th-ranked Cyclones and No. 22 Hawkeyes are meeting as ranked teams for the first time since 1987. "You want to play in games that mean a lot to a lot of people, and this game means a lot to a lot of people," said Iowa coach Fran McCaffery. "It's an important game. It's why you work so hard."
Iowa State is coached by Fred Hoiberg, who played in four games for the Cyclones against the Hawkeyes during the early 1990's after first gaining exposure to the rivalry as a ballboy at Iowa State. “It’s fun to be a part of this as a coach, as well,” Hoiberg said. “It’s going to be a fun atmosphere. You’ve got two teams that are ranked ... and both teams feel pretty good about themselves right now. It should be a lot of fun.” This year's showdown features two of the nation's best offensive teams, as Iowa State enters Thursday's action leading the country with 91.7 points per game and Iowa isn't far behind, placing sixth with a mark of 89.5 points.
ABOUT IOWA (10-1, 6-4 ATS): It seems like the math could not work, but the Hawkeyes have 10 different players averaging at least 15 minutes per game, led by senior guard Roy Devyn Marble (15.6 points in 26.5 minutes) and junior forward Aaron White (12.6 points in 24.1 minutes). Neither Marble nor White is particularly efficient from 3-point range, but Iowa has several other long-range weapons in Zach McCabe (16-of-33), Mike Gesell (11-of-27) and Jarrod Uthoff (7-of-13). The Hawkeyes had lost three straight meetings to their cross-state rivals before defeating the Cyclones 80-71 at home last season behind White's 18 points.
ABOUT IOWA STATE (7-0, 4-1 ATS): Not only are the Cyclones the highest scoring team in the country, but they also rank second in assists (19.9) and fourth in rebounding (46.3). Five Iowa State players average in double figures, paced by two seniors - forward Melvin Ejim (18 per game) and guard DeAndre Kane (15.4). With an average of 7.8 rebounds, Ejim is actually third on the Cyclones, as Kane averages eight boards and Dustin Hogue chips in 12.7 points and 10.4 rebounds despite only standing 6-foot-6, 215 pounds.
TRENDS:
* Over is 5-0 in the last five meetings.
* Home team is 6-2 ATS in the last eight meetings.
* Hawkeyes are 1-4 ATS in the last five meetings in Iowa St..
TIP-INS:
1. Iowa State have scored at least 77 points in every game this season, with a high of 110 against Missouri-Kansas City late last month.
2. The Cyclones have not started 8-0 since 1996-97, when they won their first 10 games.
3. Iowa leads the all-time series 43-23, although Iowa State has won five straight home meetings in the series by an average of 9.8 points.