Iowa State vs No. 25 Oklahoma Big 12 Tournament | 2021 NCAA Basketball Expert Analysis

Poor Iowa State didn’t win a single Big 12 game this season and the 10^th-seeded Cyclones will be big underdogs when they open conference tournament play against No. 7 Oklahoma on Wednesday. The Sooners are +1500 to win this tournament.

How to Bet Iowa State vs. Oklahoma State NCAA Basketball Odds & TV Info

• When: Wednesday, 9 PM ET
• Where: T-Mobile Center, Kansas City
• TV: ESPN
• Stream: ESPN app
• Radio:com
• Opening NCAAB Lines: TBA (Oklahoma will be favored)

Last Meeting

The Sooners won both meetings this season. The schools last played on Feb. 20 in Ames and OU won 66-56. The Cyclones trailed by as many as 21 in the first half before rallying to a 46-45 lead on Tre Jackson’s 3-pointer with 11:29 remaining. The Sooners then responded with a 16-4 spurt to grab the lead for good. Austin Reaves had 20 points to lead Oklahoma. Reaves helped seal the win with two free throws and a long 3-pointer in the final 1:34. He finished 8 for 10 from the line. Iowa State had won the previous nine meetings in Ames.

Why Bet on Iowa State? | 2021 NCAA Basketball Expert Analysis

ISU (2-21) closed the season with a 61-56 loss at Kansas State to finish an embarrassing 0-18 in league play. K-State held Iowa State to just 35.8 percent (19-of-53) shooting, including 21.7 percent (5-of-23) from 3-point range, while forcing 16 turnovers. The Cyclones shot just 30.8 percent (8-of-26) in the second half, including 13.3 percent (2-of-15) from long range, with 13 of their 31 points coming from the free throw line.

The defensive effort made up for a poor shooting night, as the Wildcats hit on just 38 percent (19-of-50) of their field goals, including 29.2 percent (7-of-24) from 3-point range. K-State did score 15 points off the 16 turnovers by ISU.

Two Cyclones – seniors Jalen Coleman-Lands (19) and Solomon Young (18) – combined for 37 of the team’s 56 points on 13-of-26 field goals and 8-of-10 free throws, while the other 7 players managed just 19 points on 6-of-27 shooting and 5-of-8 free throws. Junior Javan Johnson grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.

It could be that coach Steve Prohm is fired after this horrible year. The decision will ultimately fall to athletic director Jamie Pollard, who has not commented publicly on the men’s basketball program or Prohm’s status going forward.

“I can’t worry about that,” Prohm said. “Those things are out of my control. I understand the job that I’ve done here over six years.”

It is just the second time in the 114-year history of Iowa State basketball that the Cyclones failed to win a conference game, giving the 1936-37 team company. Saturday’s loss also extended Iowa State’s current losing streak to 17 games, a record they had already set two losses prior.

Iowa State should be bolstered by the return of point guard Rasir Bolton, who has missed three games after spraining his ankle. Bolton is Iowa State’s leading scorer and without him they were left without anyone who had logged significant point guard minutes this season.

Why Bet on Oklahoma? | 2021 NCAA Basketball Expert Analysis

The Sooners (14-9) ended the season on a four-game skid, falling at home to No. 15 Texas 69-65 last Thursday. Defense proved to be the difference, as UT limited the Sooners to 65 points on 37.3-percent field goal shooting (22-59), including a 28.0-percent mark (7-25) from three-point range.

Oklahoma trimmed a big deficit to two points on four occasions down the stretch, the last coming after an Austin Reaves layup to pull within 67-65 with 6.9 seconds left. Freshman forward Greg Brown converted a pair of free throws in a 1-and-1 pressure situation with 4.9 seconds remaining to seal the victory.

Reaves scored 16 points and Alondes Williams and Brady Manek each added 13 for the Sooners whose four straight losses are by a combined 17 points. Just a few weeks ago, this team was flying high with five wins over ranked teams, looking down at the rest of the Big 12 from second place and with a top-10 national standing.

“I don’t think we’re playing much differently than when we won seven of eight,” said Sooner head coach Lon Kruger following the loss to Texas. “We won one-possession games in the weeks prior to the last 10 days. We need to finish games differently. We have to play for 40 minutes regardless.”

The Sooners have not won a Big 12 tournament game since the 2016 Final Four season. Beginning with a semifinal loss to West Virginia that season, OU has lost four straight in the event. Oklahoma has played Iowa State more in the Big 12 tournament than any current conference school other than Kansas. The Sooners are 6-4 against the Cyclones with the 2016 quarterfinal victory over ISU.

Joe Lunardi of ESPN currently projects the Sooners as a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament, while Jerry Palm of CBS has OU on the No. 8 line.

Expert NBA Prediction

Oklahoma 76, Iowa State 66

 

---

 

I have read enough, I need to place my bet now. What to do?

Bet NBA Today
MyBookie Odds for the Games

---

 

NBA Betting Center

---

---

Updated NBA Betting Odds | Online Betting

---