Bob Huggins’ West Virginia Mountaineers nearly got the big win they needed to assure themselves a spot in the tournament at Phog Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday.
They almost knocked off the now No. 3 Kansas Jayhawks but fell, 76-74. WVU is now 16-13 (5-11). They have another chance for a win over a ranked opponent on the road in Ames, Iowa tonight.
The Iowa State Cyclones are 17-11 (8-8) and No. 23 in the country after losing at home to Oklahoma on Saturday, 61-50. Both teams are looking to bounce back, but West Virginia might need it more if it wants to go dancing.
Here are the odds for this Big 12 matchup in Ames:
West Virginia vs. Iowa State odds, spread and total
West Virginia vs. Iowa State prediction and pick
Despite its less than stellar record, the advanced stats absolutely love this West Virginia team.
The Mountaineers have had a brutal run through the Big 12 and it isn’t getting any easier with two ranked opponents to finish out the regular season, Iowa State tonight and Kansas State this Saturday.
They are 20th in KenPom, 19th in adjusted offensive efficiency and 54th on the other end of the floor. They went all out to beat Kansas, Kedrian Johnson, their point guard, played all 40 minutes, their leading scorer, Erik Stevenson had 23 and they had 14 offensive rebounds as a team, but Kansas shot 50% from 3 and won by two.
I’m not sure how they’re going to respond on just one day of rest after selling out to get a win on the road and then coming up short.
Iowa State, on the other side, has lost three in a row after losing to Oklahoma, the last place team in the conference on Saturday. Iowa State is actually 24th in KenPom, so behind WVU, but it is 107th in adjusted offense and that showed with 50 points against OU at home.
Back on Feb. 8, WVU beat Iowa State at home, 76-71.
That game was a free-throw shooting fest with West Virginia making 26-of-31 and the Cyclones hitting 19-of-24 shots from the line.
They needed that many trips to the line for the game to end up in the 70s, if it isn’t called as tightly tonight this one should easily go under. Iowa State is ninth in defensive efficiency, and it is 278th in possessions per game.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change
