College Basketball Betting Lines: Iowa State at Iowa

Iowa State Cyclones AT Iowa Hawkeyes
December 10th, 2010 at 8:35 PM EST
Opening Betting line: Iowa -3
Current Betting line: Iowa -2
Opening Total: 135
Current Total: 137.5
Moneyline: Iowa -135 / Iowa State +115

college football lines — The line has shifted slightly and may experience more movement as game time approaches, as these teams are closely matched.

Despite Iowa State heading into the game with a 7-2 record, against the 4-3 Hawkeyes, the college basketball betting line is favoring Iowa by -2 at the moment. Iowa State has beat up on their opponents with nearly a +20 point differential, scoring 79.8 and giving up 60.7. Iowa is doing well with their differential, too, with a +11.4 differential, scoring 71.3 and giving up 60.9.

The teams have split the last ten meetings; however, Iowa has the point differential of +2.4. The meetings have been defensive battles, with neither team shooting better than 42% from the floor. The last meeting between these teams was December 11th, 2009 and the Cyclones won by 10. College basketball oddsmakers have taken these teams’ defensive prowess into account, seting the total at 135, despite the combinative total of the teams year’s average being 150.1.

Iowa State is 2-3 ATS this year and Iowa is 3-5 ATS. Iowa is 2-3 ATS at home and Iowa State is 0-1 ATS on the road.

Iowa State’s offense has been pretty good this year and their 79 points per game ranks 32nd in the nation. They are led by 6’4″ senior point guard Diante Garrett, who is averaging 17 points per game and 6 assists per game. His scoring average has nearly doubled from his previous three years at ISU and he has scored in double figures in all nine of the Cyclones’ games. He had a 28 point game against Creighton and is capable of getting off for big nights. He’s 18 of 54 from behind the arc this year (33%), down slightly from last year’s 35%. His backcourt mate 6’3″ junior Scott Christopherson is the other key player to the Cyclones’ attack. He’s not as dynamic as Garrett but is a much better shooter and is hitting an insane 59.6% from behind the arc this year (13 of 28). He’s already had two games with 25+ points and if he gets hot, it could go a long way towards Iowa State covering the spread and/or winning the game.

Iowa has a much more balanced attack than Iowa State. Their entire starting five averages 8 points or more per game, but no one is much of a stand out, as their leading scorer 6’5″ sophomore Eric May averages but 13 points per contest. May went for 20 points last game, however, against South Dakota, in what was a 10 point loss for the Hawkeyes. Freshman Melsahn Basabe has been impressive so far on the interior. In only 21 minutes a game, he leads Iowa in rebounding with 6 per game and is also scoring 8.2 per game on 59.6% shooting from the field. He’s an adept shotblocker (1.0 per game) and is going to get to be even better given his lanky 6’9″ frame. He had an impressive outing against UL Monroe, going for 7 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks. If he can patrol the paint like that against Iowa State and shut down the penetration of Garrett, it will limit Iowa State’s potent offense and allow Iowa to cover the spread and win the game.