2016 NCAA Tournament
South Region – Second Round
#7 Iowa Hawkeyes vs #2 Villanova Wildcats
Sunday, March 20, 2016, 12:10 pm Eastern, TV: CBS
Barclays Center – Brooklyn, New York
Opening Line: Villanova -6 1/2 (-120)
Current Line: Villanova -7
Opening Total: 145 1/2
Current Total: 145 1/2
Opening Money Line: Villanova -300 / Iowa +250
Current Money Line: Villanova -300 / Iowa +25o
Teams from the state of Iowa are 4-0 so far in the NCAA Tournament. The Iowa State Cyclones have already punched their ticket to the Sweet 16 next week. Sunday, the Iowa Hawkeyes and Northern Iowa Panthers look to join them. Both face up hill climbs though. The #7 seed Iowa Hawkeyes take on the #2 seed Villanova Wildcats in the South region in Brooklyn, while the #11 Panthers take on #3 Texas A&M in the West in Oklahoma City.
Iowa is 22-10 this season while Villanova is 30-5. The winner will face #3 seed Miami in the South regional semifinals next week in Louisville. Villanova leads the series 4-1 against Iowa. The Wildcats have won two straight games in the series including the last meeting in the championship game of the 2013 Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas. The only other NCAA tournament meeting between the teams happened in 1983.
Iowa is coached by Fran McCaffery. The Hawkeyes are in the tournament for the 25th time and third straight season. Iowa looks to return to the sweet 16 for the first time since 1999. The Hawkeyes were part of a four team logjam for third in the Big Ten. Iowa lost to Illinois 68-66 in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis. The Hawkeyes beat #10 seed Temple in the first round 72-70 in overtime Friday in Brooklyn on a putback at the buzzer by center Adam Woodbury.
The Hawkeyes have losses to Dayton and Notre Dame in a tournament in Orlando. Iowa also has road losses at Iowa State, Maryland, Indiana, Penn State and Ohio State. The Hawkeyes have home losses to Wisconsin and Indiana. The Hawkeyes have road wins at Marquette, Purdue, Michigan State, Rutgers, Northwestern, Penn State, and Minnesota, plus a neutral site win over Wichita State at Disney. Iowa has home wins over Florida State, Drake, Michigan State, Nebraska, Michigan, Purdue, Illinois and Michigan. The Hawkeyes had gone 2-6 in their last 8 games entering the tournament. Iowa is 14-15 ATS and the total is 15-14 this season. Iowa was a 7 point favorite against Temple and the total was 139.
Villanova is coached by Jay Wright. The Wildcats are making their 36th trip to the tournament and 11th since 2005. Villanova hasn’t been to the sweet 16 since 2009. Villanova won the Big East regular season title with a 16-2 record. The Wildcats beat Georgetown in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament and Providence in the semifinals before losing to Seton Hall in the championship. The loss snapped a five game winning streak for Villanova. Villanova beat #15 seed UNC-Asheville 86-56 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday in Brooklyn.
Villanova is coached by Jay Wright. The Wildcats have losses to Oklahoma in Hawaii and at Virginia, Providence and Xavier. Villanova has home wins over Nebraska, Akron, LaSalle, Delaware, Penn, Xavier, Seton Hall, Marquette, Creighton, St. John’s, Butler, DePaul and Georgetown. The Wildcats have neutral site wins over Stanford and Georgia Tech in the NIT Season Tip-off in Brooklyn, along with road wins at St. Joseph’s, Creighton, Butler, Georgetown, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Providence, DePaul, Temple and Marquette. Villanova is 16-17-1 ATS and the total is 17-16-1 this season. The Wildcats were 17.5 point favorites against Asheville and the total was 142.5.
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Iowa is outscoring teams 78-69 this season. The Hawkeyes are shooting 45% from the field and 38.2% from 3 point range. The Hawkeyes are #35 in three point shooting. Iowa makes 71.9% of their free throws. Opponents are shooting 41.5% from the field and 31% from three point range. The Hawkeyes are #25 in three point defense. Iowa averages 38.4 rebounds a game and opponents average 34.1 per game. Iowa averages 16 assists, 10.4 turnovers, 6.8 steals and 4.8 blocks per game. Opponents average 13.5 assists, 13.1 turnovers, 5.3 steals and 3 blocks per game.
Forward Jarrod Uthoff averages 18.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 2.7 blocks per game. Guard Peter Jok averages 16.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Center Adam Woodbury averages 7.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Mike Gesell averages 8.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Anthony Clemmons averages 9 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Dom Uhl averages 6.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. Nicholas Baer, Brady Ellington, Andrew Fleming, and Ahmad Wagner will also get time in the rotation. Forward Dale Jones is out for the season with a knee injury.
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Villanova is outscoring teams 77-64 this season. The Wildcats are #20 nationally in points allowed. Villanova is shooting 46.7% from the field and 34.4% from 3 point range. The Wildcats are shooting 77.7% from the free throw line. Villanova is #2 nationally in free throw shooting. Opponents are shooting 40% from the field and 33.5% from 3 point range. Villanova is #29 in field goal defense. Villanova averages 35.6 rebounds per game and opponents average 29.7 per game. The Wildcats average 16.1 assists, 11.1 turnovers, 6.7 steals and 3.4 blocks per game. Opponents average 12.9 assists, 13.9 turnovers, 5.9 steals and 2.2 blocks per game.
Josh Hart averages 15.5 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Ryan Arcidiacono averages 11.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. Kris Jenkins averages 13.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game. Jalen Brunson averages 9.9 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 2.6 assists. Daniel Ochefu averages 9.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 blocks per game. Mikal Bridges, Phil Booth, and Darryl Reynolds will also get time in the rotation. Donte DiVincenzo and Tim Delaney are both out indefinitely.
Iowa is 5-2 ATS in Sunday games, 1-4 against Big East teams, 3-13 in neutral site games, 1-5 against teams with winning records, 1-6 after a loss, and in NCAA tournament games, and 1-8 overall.
Villanova is 8-0 ATS against Big Ten teams, 39-17 in Sunday games, 33-16-2 in non-conference games, 3-7 in NCAA Tournament games, 1-6 after a straight up win, and 0-4 after a cover.
Fans in Philadelphia wanted to see a Big 5 showdown between Temple and Villanova in nearby Brooklyn in the second round. At one point, Iowa was a top five team and people were talking about them as a potential #1 seed. This is still a dangerous team even though they have struggled recently. I think Villanova pulls away late though.
