CBKB
Iowa St. at Iowa (-6) 8:00 ET BIG10 TV
1* Iowa (-6)
Iowa was negatively impacted the end of last season by health concerns of the son of 4th year HC McCaffrey. When the smoke cleared, the Hawkeyes had finished on a 1-7 SU, 0-8 ATS finish, culminating with a 1st round NCAA loss to Tennessee. It has left 3 RS and a very deep team, as a very hungry unit, entering 2014. They enter tonight at 7-2 SU with losses on neutral courts to only Texas and Syracuse. As part of their current 6-game win streak, Iowa won at North Carolina (no easy feat). Furthering the Hawkeyes’ motivation for this game is a revenge motive for an 85-82 loss at Ames last year to their in-state rival. At 16 PPG, Aaron White leads a deep Iowa contingent, that is 41-24 ATS on this court under McCaffrey, including 19-9 ATS in non-conference games. Under 5th year HC Hoiberg, Iowa State has the same type of home/road dichotomy. Under Hoiberg, the Cyclones won 23 or more games, 3 consecutive years, including 28 wins last year and a Sweet 16 appearance. But, this is Iowa State’s first true road game with their only loss coming on a neutral court (63-72) to Maryland. This year’s Iowa St. team has been buoyed by UNLV transfer, Dejan-Jones. But, personal legal problems have made him doubtful for this contest tonight. Without his services, the Cyclones miss a major scoring component. As a result, we lineup with Iowa, the more motivated team, on a strong home court.