An interesting battle right out of the gate in March Madness is on tap this Friday, as two notable programs from major conferences square off in Tulsa with the Ohio State Buckeyes of the Big Ten looking to score a mild upset over the freshly minted Big 12 Tournament champs Iowa State Cyclones. The Buckeyes are +100,000 to find a way to win the national title, while the Cyclones are priced at +3,000.
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Betting Preview for the Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Iowa State Cyclones College Basketball Game on March 22, 2019
Where: BOK Center, Tulsa
When: Friday, March 22, 2019, 9:45 PM ET
Line: Ohio State Buckeyes (+5.5) vs. Iowa State Cyclones (-5.5) – view all NCAA Basketball lines
TV Broadcast: TBS
Betting on the Ohio State Buckeyes (19-14 Overall / 8-12 Conference)
If you look at their recent record, the Buckeyes look like a team that’s in shaky form. While they have lost four of their last five games, three of those were played with Kaleb Wesson was out of the lineup due to a three-game suspension levied on him by the Big Ten. Wesson is the best weapon of the Buckeyes, as he led the team in the regular season in scoring and in rebounding with averages of 14.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. He played in the Buckeyes’ most recent game, albeit in a 77-70 loss to the Michigan State Spartans in the Big Ten Tournament, scoring just seven points and grabbing three rebounds. He will have to do better than that if Ohio State wants to hang with the Cyclones. Ohio State’s offense is a problem, as it averaged just 69.6 points per game in the regular season, so the need for other sources of points is paramount for the Buckeyes. Meanwhile, the defense of Ohio State could keep the game close. The Buckeyes ranked 44th nationally with just 66.2 points allowed per game.
The over is 3-0 in Ohio State’s last three games.
Betting on the Iowa State Cyclones (23-11 Overall / 9-9 Conference)
The Cyclones have caught fire in the Big 12 Tournament. Nothing about them was extraordinary for the most part of the regular season, but they suddenly got it all together once the postseason kicked off, winning three-straight games in the tourney to win the league title. In the finals, Iowa State defeated the Kansas Jayhawks, 78-66, behind a good offense and a better defense that held Bill Self’s team down to only 39.4 percent shooting from the field. That’s among the things the Cyclones have done consistently this season – defend well. They allowed 68.3 points per game prior to the Big 12 Tournament. On offense, they rarely have much problem when it comes to getting baskets because they have plenty of bucket-getters (four players averaging in double-digit scoring) led by a go-to guy in Virginia Cavaliers transfer Marial Shayok, who has the ability to make plays out of broken plays. Shayok is averaging 18.6 points and dropped 21 points in the Big 12 semis against the Kansas State Wildcats.
Iowa State is 3-0 against the spread (ATS) in its last three games.
Writer’s Prediction
Iowa State wins, 72-68.
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