West Region NCAA Tournament Betting: (7) Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. (10) Iowa State Cyclones

Notre Dame vs. Iowa State
Time: 9:45 PM ET, Mar 22, 2013
Spread: ND -1
Total: 140

Betting Odds from Bovada

Notre Dame finished the season 25-9 with an 11-7 Big East record. They closed the season by losing three of their final six games, losing three of their four matchups against ranked opponents. Two of those losses came to No. 4 Louisville, the last of which was a 12 point loss on March 15, to close out Big East play. The previous game, the Fighting Irish defeated then-No. 13 Marquette.

Against Marquette, the Fighting Irish got 17 points from Jerian Grant and 18 from Pat Connaughton. Grant leads the team in scoring with 13.4 points per game, and Connaughton averages nine per game. Grant is joined in double-figure scoring by Jack Cooley’s 13.1 points per game and Eric Atkins’ 11.4.

Cooley averages a team high 10.3 rebounds, and does it all in under 30 minutes per game. The 6’9″ senior forward has struggled lately, averaging only eight points and eight rebounds over his last five games.

Cooley will have to get it together against an Iowa State team that ranked No. 21 in the nation in rebounding with 38.7 rebounds per game. The Cyclones can also score. Iowa State ranked No. 4 in the nation with 79.6 points per game, led by Will Clyburn’s 15 points per game and Tyrus McGee, Georges Niang and Melvin Ejim all post double-figure scoring averages as well.

The Cyclones use a nine-man rotation, and they shot 45.5 percent from the floor as a team. Prior to their 15 point loss to then No. 7 Kansas, they had soundly defeated Oklahoma, West Virginia and then-No. 13 Oklahoma State. Oklahoma State was eliminated in opening round play against 12th seeded Oregon yesterday, and the Cyclones will hope to avoid a similar fate.