Iowa State has high hopes on the road as they face-off against Kansas this Monday. The last time these two teams met was just over a month ago, in a game that the Jayhawks dominated to a 79-53 win. The Cyclones’ 53-points was the fewest against KU in Ames since ISU scored just 52 back in February of 1999. Iowa State certainly has a score to settle but without guard Tyrese Haliburton, who is out for the season with a broken wrist, bettors are only left wondering if the Cyclones can cover the spread. Going into the game, NCAAB Futures price Kansas at +950 to win the 2020 Championship, while Iowa State’s odds look much worse at just +20,000.
Betting on the Iowa State Cyclones (11-14 Overall / 4-8 Conference)
Iowa State is coming off of an impressive 81-52 win on Saturday afternoon against the Texas Longhorns. Forward Michael Jacobson, who is averaging just 6.5-points per game this season led the squad with 21-points. Guard Prentiss Nixon and forward Solomon Young chipped in with 17-points apiece to help cover the absence of injured ISU star Tyrese Haliburton. They will take this momentum and play against Kansas with greater confidence than their current predicament, rank, and record should afford. But will it be enough?
When Iowa State played Kansas in January, they still had Haliburton, but the guard only put in 5-points in 36 minutes of play. That in itself speaks to the position they’re in against the same opponent this Monday. KU dominated ISU on nearly all counts, out-rebounding them 37-30, and boasting a 51.9 field goal percentage (to ISU’s 34.5%) along with a 52.6 three-point percentage (to ISU’s 28.6%). The teams were evenly matched on turnovers as the each gave up a dozen, but that didn’t phase Kansas one bit. It’s hard to imagine that this Monday’s meeting will go any different – but Iowa State has something to prove against their Big-12 rival and that may be all it takes to keep this one interesting enough to favor bettors. Still, we must turn to the against the spread (ATS) stats on this one.
When playing on the road so far this season, Iowa State is just 2-6 ATS and only 3-7 ATS after a win, covering 30% of the time. Against ranked opponents, they are an abysmal 2-6 ATS, covering 25% of the time. There doesn’t seem to much hope for a tightly contested game this Monday.
Betting on the Kansas Jayhawks (22-3 Overall /11-1 Conference)
There’s no point in rehashing KU’s dominance over ISU in January any further than we have already. Instead, we look to the momentum the Jayhawks carry into Monday after their play against the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday. Kansas won in a dominating fashion, 87-70, thanks to a 24-point performance by guard Marcus Garrett, backed by fellow guard Devon Dotson who dropped 19-points. KU outrebounded Oklahoma 46-35 and had one fewer turnover (10 vs 9) than their opponent. KU shot the ball well, hitting a dead-on 50% from 3-point range, better than their 48.5 field-goal percentage.
Already one of the nation’s best defenders, Garrett has been egged on by Jayhawks coach Bill Self to step up and take more shots – which he did against Oklahoma to great success. Garrett will shoot the ball just as much or more against a low-risk Iowa State to set a tone that gives Kansas a legitimate shot to win the tournament this coming March/April.
When playing at home so far this season, Kansas is just 5-7 ATS, but 13-8 ATS after a win, covering 61.9% of the time.
