We move on to the quarterfinals of the NIT tournament and we will see the Iowa Hawkeyes travel to Charlottesville, Virginia to take on the Virginia Cavaliers. The game is scheduled for a 7:00 pm (Eastern) start time and will be televised on ESPN 2. Currently the Odds for the game have Virginia favored by 4 points while the total sits at 123.
Analysis: Despite a solid season, Iowa (23-12) had its NCAA Tournament dreams dashed after falling to Michigan State in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Conference Tournament. This is the second straight year in which the Hawkeyes were relegated to the NIT, and the seventh time overall. Iowa improved to 7-6 all- time in the event by picking up a pair of double-digit wins over Indiana State (68-52) and Stony Brook (75-63) in the first two rounds. Iowa, which set a new school record for most home wins (18) in a season with the victory over the Seawolves last week, has won five of its last six games coming into this matchup. One of the most important factors in the Hawkeyes’ finish has been the strong play of leading scorer Roy Devyn Marble (14.8 points). Marble missed one contest and averaged a mere 7.3 points in the seven subsequent games following an ankle sprain during practice on Jan. 7, but is averaging 18.3 since. In the team’s NIT victories, Marble is averaging 26 points, 5.5 assists and one turnover. "He is making plays and not turning the ball over," Iowa coach Fran McCaffery told the team’s website. "He's very unselfish and scoring a lot more. It seems to be having a comforting effect as everyone around him feels good (when he has) the ball.”
Virginia too has enjoyed a successful campaign, logging a 23-11 record (its most wins since notching 25 back in 1994-95), which includes 11 wins in the ultra-competitive Atlantic Coast Conference, The Cavaliers bowed to NC State in the league's annual tournament, but then proceeded to score a pair of double-digit wins of their own here in the NIT, taking out Norfolk State (67-56) and St. John's (68-50). UVA has claimed a school-record 20 home wins this season (20-1), and the team has won a John Paul Jones Arena-record 19 straight to mark the program's longest home win streak since running off 34 straight from 1980-83. The Cavs claimed NIT championships in both 1980 and 1992, and this is their first appearance in the historic event since 2006. First-year players combined to score 46 of the Cavaliers’ 68 points in Sunday’s victory over St. John’s. Both Justin Anderson (18) and fellow freshman Taylor Barnette (13) secured career-high point totals – necessary performances considering leading scorer Joe Harris was held to seven points, 9.4 below his season average. “I thought the first-years really gave us a lift and played very good basketball. That was pivotal in this game,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett told the team's website. Junior Akil Mitchell grabbed nine rebounds against the Red Storm to give him 305 for the season, marking only the eighth time a Cavalier has reached the 300-rebound mark.
Pick: The Hawkeyes want to run, but Virginia does not and they have kept just about every team that visits them from running. The Cavaliers play excellent defense at home as they have allowed just 49.8 on a ridiculous 33.9% shooting. This team is just lights on the defensive end, especially at home and that defense is a big reason why their home games have averaged just 117.4 ppg. The Virginia offense has averaged 67.6 ppg at home, but overall hey have struggled of late, averaging just 60.6 ppg in their last 5 games. The Hawkeyes have struggled on the road defensively, allowing 72.9 ppg, but it's not all bad as teams shoot just 43.9% overall and 30.2% from long range vs them when they play away from home. Let's also note that Iowa has been hot defensively overall, allowing just 58 ppg in their last 6 games overall. The Hawkeyes do score 66.4 ppg away from home, but they shoot very poorly away from home hitting just 39.3% of their shots overall, including 26.6% from long range. You can't shoot that poorly and expect 60 points vs this defense on this floor. Both defenses are strong and both offenses shoot very poorly. this should be a slow down game that will produce at most 115 points. KEY TRENDS--- The Under is 17-4 in Virginia's last 21 non-conference games and 7-2 in Iowa's last 9 road games.
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