The third time is a charm, right? The Iowa State Cyclones sure hope so as they battle the Big 12 co-champion Kansas Jayhawks this evening in a Big 12 Tournament Semifinals clash at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Tonight’s meeting, the third of the season between the Cyclones and Jayhawks, is scheduled to get underway at 7:30pm ET on ESPNU. According to the latest College Basketball Odds, Iowa State ought to brace for some disappointment as Kansas is lined as a -5.5 against the spread favorite. The total in this evening’s game is set at 144.5 points.
Kansas and Iowa State opened their respective conference seasons opposite one another on January 9th in Lawrence, and the Cyclones nearly pulled off the unthinkable. The Jayhawks won the game 97-89, but they required a three-pointer off the glass to get the game to overtime.
When the two squads met again in Ames on February 25th, the Cyclones were ready to exact some revenge. Fred Hoiberg’s troops, who defeated Kansas 72-64 at the Hilton Coliseum last January, were, according to many, robbed of their chance, though. A controversial no-call sent the game into overtime; the Jayhawks pulled away in the extra frame, securing a 108-96 win.
Iowa State, the top three point shooting team in the nation, rides a three game winning streak into tonight’s contest. The Cyclones closed out the regular season with wins over Oklahoma State and West Virginia, and they opened Big 12 Tournament play with a 73-66 win against Oklahoma last night.
Kansas bounced back from its ugly regular season finale loss at Baylor with a 91-63 destruction of Texas Tech yesterday. The Jayhawks routed the Red Raiders 91-63 to give them their eighth win in nine games.
Kansas has won nine of the last 10 in this series and, much to Iowa State’s chagrin, most of those games were not close with Bill Self’s crew winning by an average of 14 points per contest.
Big 12 Tournament College Basketball Odds:
Iowa State Cyclones +5.5 (-110), Over 144.5 (-110), +210 (Moneyline)
Kansas Jayhawks -5.5 (-110), Under 144.5 (-110), -250 (Moneyline)
Reading The March Madness Betting Market
As we head into the month of March, Vegas Runner and RJ Bell will take a look at reading the betting market for this years March Madness.