Iowa State Cyclones vs Virginia Cavaliers Sweet 16 Betting Preview & Odds
NCAA Tournament action on Friday night and we will see the Iowa State Cyclones take on the Virginia Cavaliers at The United Center in Chicago, Illinois. CBS will carry this game, which has a start time of 7:10 pm EST.
Current betting odds for this game have the have the Cavaliers listed as 5 point favorites, while the total has been set at 141.
The Iowa State Cyclones come in as the 4th seed in the Midwest Division and they made it to the Sweet 16 off a 13 point win over Iona and a 17 point win over Arkansas Little Rock. They really haven’t played top notch competition in the tournament yet. The Cyclones are 5-1 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games and and they are 5-0 ATS their last five games vs a winning team, but we also note that Big 12 Non-#1 seeds are 0-4-1 ATS the last 5 games in the Sweet 16, plus the Cyclones are also 2-5 ATS their last 7 games off a SU win. ISU is led by Georges Niang, who averages 20.2 ppg and had 28 points in each of the first two games of the tournament. Jameel McKay leads the team in rebounding at 9.0 rpg, while chipping in with 11.5 ppg. Matt Thomas (43.3%) and Deonte Burton (47.1%) are the top long range bombers on the team, while scoring 10.9 and 9.6 ppg respectively. Rounding out the double digit scorers is Monte Morris (13.9 ppg) and Abdel Hader (13.2 ppg). The Cyclones have been a strong offensive team this year as they come in ranked 14th in scoring, putting up 82.1 ppg, while also ranking 3rd in shooting overall, 23rd from long range and 157th at the charity stripe. On defense the numbers are not great at all as they come in ranked 252nd in points allowed, giving up 74.7 ppg, while also ranking 177th in defensive FG% overall, and 115th in 3-point defense. Iowa State comes in at 165th in the nation in rebounding, while they commit 11.4 turnovers per game (59th) and force 12.3 turnovers per game (199th).
The Virginia Cavaliers are the number 1 seed in the Midwest Region and they have proven that they deserved that number 1 as they beat Hampton by 36 and then followed it up with solid 8 point win over Butler. The Cavs are now 9-4-1 ATS vs tournament teams this year and they are also 6-1-1 ATS their last seven games vs a winning team, but let’s also note that the Cavs are just 1-3 ATS in their last four tournament games after scoring 70+ points. The Cavs are led by Malcolm Brogdon, who averages 18.6 ppg and had 22 points in the win over Butler. Anthony Gill is 2nd on the team in scoring at 13.6 ppg, while leading them in rebounding at 6.2 rpg. He had 19 points in each of the first two games. London Perrantes hits 47.9% from long range and rounds out the double digit scorers on the team at 10.9 ppg. The Cavaliers are not a good offensive team as they rank 235th in scoring, putting up just 70.9 ppg, but they are a good shooting team as they rank 8th in shooting overall 10th from long range and 17th at the charity stripe. The offense doesn’t need to be that good when you have a defense that ranks 2nd in points allowed (59.5 ppg), 88th defensive FG% overall and 183rd in 3-point defense. Virginia is 319th in the nation in rebounding, while they commit just 9.2 turnovers per game (4th) and force 11.7 turnovers per game (248th).
