Big 12 Tournament Semifinals
#3 Oklahoma Sooners vs #2 Iowa State Cyclones
Sprint Center – Kansas City, Missouri
Friday, March 13, 2015, 9:00 pm Eastern, TV: ESPN2
Opening Line: Iowa State -1
Current Line: Iowa State -1 (-115)
Opening Total: 149 1/2
Current Total: 149 1/2
Opening Money Line: Iowa State -110 / Oklahoma -110
Current Money Line: Iowa State -110 / Oklahoma -110
The 23-8 Iowa State Cyclones and 22-9 Oklahoma Sooners tied for second in the Big 12 at 12-6, a game behind Kansas at 13-5. The Cyclones were given the #2 seed in the Big 12 tournament and will take on the #3 seed Sooners in the semifinals Friday. Iowa State closed the game on a 12-0 run to beat Texas 69-67 in the quarterfinals Thursday including a buzzer beater from Monte Morris to win the game. Oklahoma was down early to bedlam rival Oklahoma State but came back to win 64-49 in their quarterfinal. The winner between Oklahoma and Iowa State will face either Baylor or Kansas in the Big 12 championship game Saturday.
Both Iowa State and Oklahoma are projected to be either #3 or #4 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, certainly no lower than a #5 seed. There is an outside shot either team could be a #2 seed but that is a stretch.
Oklahoma leads the series 113-83 against Iowa State. The teams split the season series with each winning at home. Oklahoma overcame a 10 point deficit in the first half to win 94-83 in Norman February 9. On march second Iowa state scored 18 points in Ames and was down 21 points in the second half. However, the Cyclones would score 59 second half points to win 77-70.
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Oklahoma is coached by Lon Kruger. The Sooners have road losses at Creighton, West Virginia, Kansas, Baylor, Kansas State and Iowa State. Oklahoma has neutral site losses to Wisconsin in the Bahamas and Washington in Las Vegas, along with a home loss to Kansas State. Oklahoma has neutral site wins over UCLA and Butler in the Bahamas, home wins over Missouri, Oral Roberts, Weber State, George Mason, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, West Virginia, Iowa State, Texas, TCU and Kansas, plus road wins over Tulsa, Oklahoma State, TCU and Texas Tech and Texas. The Sooners are 15-14 ATS and the total is 11-17 this season. Oklahoma was a 5 point favorite against Oklahoma State and the total was 134.
Iowa State is coached by Fred Hoiberg. The Cyclones have neutral site losses to Maryland in Kansas City and South Carolina in Brooklyn, plus road losses at Baylor, Texas Tech, Kansas, Oklahoma and Kansas State, plus a home loss to Baylor. The Baylor loss snapped a 21 game home winning streak for the Cyclones. The Cyclones have home wins over Oakland, Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Kansas State, Texas, TCU, Texas Tech, West Virginia and Oklahoma, neutral site wins over Alabama in Kansas City and Drake in Des Moines, plus road wins over Iowa, West Virginia, Oklahoma State, Texas and TCU. Iowa State is 15-12 ATS and the total is 14-12 this season. The Cyclones were 2 point favorites against Texas and the total was 145.5.
Oklahoma is outscoring teams 72-63 this season. The Sooners are shooting 44% from the field and 34.6% from 3 point range. Oklahoma makes 72.7% of their free throws. The Sooners are #50 nationally in free throw shooting. Opponents are shooting 38.4% from the field and 31.4% from 3 point range. Oklahoma is #14 in field goal defense and #46 in three point defense nationally. The Sooners average 38.1 rebounds per game and opponents average 33.9 per game. Oklahoma is #26 in rebounding but #328 in rebounds allowed out of 353 teams. The Sooners average 12.7 assists, 12.3 turnovers, 7.1 steals and 5.2 blocks per game. Opponents average 11.2 assists, 14.1 turnovers, 6.4 steals and 3.7 blocks per game.
Guard Buddy Hield averages 17 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Isaiah Cousins averages 12 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.2 steals per game. TaShawn Thomas averages 11.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.6 blocks per game. Ryan Spangler averages 10.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.2 blocks per game. Jordan Woodard averages 9 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Dinjiyl Walker, Frank Booker and Khadeem Lattin also get minutes in the rotation. Forward Dante Buford is out for the season because of academics.
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Iowa State is outscoring teams 79-69 this season. The Cyclones are #9 nationally in scoring. Iowa State is shooting 48.6% from the field and 36.5% from 3 point range. The Cyclones are #12 nationally in field goal percentage. ISU makes 68.5% of their free throws. Opponents are shooting 41.8% from the field and 34.9% from 3 point range. Iowa State averages 36.5 rebounds per game and opponents average 31 per game. The Cyclones average 16.9 assists, 11.3 turnovers, 6.1 steals and 3.9 blocks per game. Opponents average 14.7 assists, 13.2 turnovers, 5.8 steals and 3.2 blocks per game.
Georges Niang averages 14.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game. Bryce Dejean-Jones averages 12.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Naz Long averages 11.2 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists. Monte Morris averages 10.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 1.7 steals per game. Dustin Hogue averages 10.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. Jameel McKay averages 10.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game. Guard Hallice Cook is out for the season with a hip injury.
Oklahoma is 4-1 ATS after a straight up win, 5-2 after allowing less than 50 points, 1-4 after a straight up win and against teams with winning records, 1-6 overall and against Big 12 teams. The under s 4-1 in this series recently.
Iowa State is 5-1-1 ATS against teams with winning records, 3-1-1 after a straight up win, 5-2-1 overall and in Big 12 games, and 7-3-1 in neutral site games. The favorite is 6-2 ATS in this series recently.
If Oklahoma can play the whole game like they did in the first half last week in Ames, then they will win easily. However, if they play like they did in the second half then it could get ugly in a hurry. Still, i think this will be a close game but Iowa State pulls it out in what should be a high scoring affair.
