NCAA basketball on Saturday night and it is the finals of the Big 12 Tournament. In this matchup we will see the Iowa State Cyclones take on the Baylor Bears at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The game has a start time of 9:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on ESPN. Vegas odds have the Cyclones listed as 1.5 point favorites, while the total sits at 146.
Stat Pack: The Iowa State Cyclones beat the Kansas State 91-85 to move on to the semifinals and then took out the top seed Kansas to move on to the finals. The win now has the Cyclones at 25-7 on the year and 12-7 in the Big 12. The Cyclones are a high scoring team that averages 83.2 ppg, which is 5th in the nation and they do so on 47.1% shooting, which is 42nd in the land. The Cyclones have 3 players that average at least 16 ppg, led by Melvin Ejim, who scores 18.4 ppg, while DeAndre Kane (17.0 ppg) and Georges Niang (16.6 ppg) round out the solid trio. Kane leads the team in assists (185), while Dustin Hogue leads the team in rebounding in rebounding (8.6 rpg), while also averaging 10.7 ppg. Although the Cyclones allow teams to hit just 41.3% of their shots (81st), this is not a good defense as they allow 73.9 ppg on the year, which is 279th in the nation. The Cyclones are a good rebounding team as they rank 20th, pulling down 39.1 rpg.
The Baylor Bears come into this game at 24-10 on the year. They got to the finals by beating TCU, Oklahoma and Texas. The Baylor offense averages 75.5 ppg (63rd) on 45.7% shooting (100th). The Bears excel from deep, hitting 39.2% from long range, which is 22nd in the nation, but they don’t hit free throws well, hitting just 67.1% from the line, which is 263rd in the nation. Corey Jefferson leads the team in scoring at 13.8 ppg, while also leading in rebounding at 8.4 rpg. Kenny Cherry leads in assists (164), while scoring 11.4 ppg. The best long range threat on the team is Brady Helsip (11.7 ppg), who hits 46.8% of his long range shots. On defense the Bears are pretty average as they allow 68.2 ppg on 42.2% shooting, but they are a good rebounding team as they haul in 39.0 rpg, which ranks 21st in the nation.
Pick: Going with the over in this one. The Cyclones are unstoppable on offense right now, while their defense has more holes than a screen door. The Bears have scored at least 74 points in 5 straight games, averaging 78 ppg over that stretch. I know that title games bring defensive intensity, but the way both teams are scoring right now I just don't see a defensive battle here. I look for at least 155 points scored in this one.
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