The Iowa State Cyclones and Kansas Jayhawks take to the floor tonight in the Big 12 Tournament Title Game. The contest is scheduled for a 6:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on ESPN. Currently the College Basketball Betting Odds for the game have Kansas favored to pick up the title.
Iowa State has survived two straight games, beating both Texas and Oklahoma in impressive fashion down the stretch. Kansas had the close scare early in the conference tournament, narrowly beating TCU in the second round by just five points.
The Jayhawks rounded more into form in last night’s beatdown of Baylor, holding the Bears to just 33 percent shooting, including going just 4-of-22 from the 3-point line. The win for Bill Self’s team was the third over Baylor this season.
Iowa State and Kansas split a pair of games this year, each winning on their own floor. Although Perry Ellis is still banged up he’s going to play and should give the Jayhawks some solid play on the interior. Ellis has played well against Iowa State the past few seasons, averaging 21.5 points against the Cyclones the last four meetings overall.
As good as Iowa State has been offensively all season, averaging almost 79 points per game, the defense has let them down and allowed opponents to hang around. When Iowa State plays well on the defensive side of the basketball, they are very tough to beat. But that’s easier said than done against a Kansas team that will look to pound the basketball inside and get good looks around the rim. Iowa State really has no rim protector and the game down on the blocks isn’t one they enjoy having to play.
Georges Niang, like Ellis, seems to play well in this rivalry as he’s averaging 22 points the last four games against the Jayhawks.
If this game is slowed down and Kansas makes it a half-court contest, the Jayhawks clearly have an advantage. Iowa State wants to get out and run, setting up the transition game and running on Kansas.
Free Pick: Iowa State 78, Kansas 75
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Teddy Covers and Steve Fezzik from Pregame.com discuss who they feel will win it all in the NCAA Tournament, while throwing in some teams that have a chance to make a deep run in the tournament.
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