With the NFL season a wrap I’ve decided to get back at making predictions for college basketball. Last year I finished a respectable record of 25-16-2 predicting the outcomes in 43 games. Lets hope I can carry that streak over into 2014 and win all you degenerate gamblers some money with my FREE predictions this year.
The West Virginia Mountaineers (14-10) welcome the the Iowa State Cyclones (18-4) into WVU Coliseum tonight for their first of two meetings this season. With the ball is set to drop at 7PM EST on ESPNU the Cyclones will put their undefeated record in February on the line, as West Virginia aims for a fourth consecutive home victory. Oddsmakers have listed the Cyclones as 1.5-point road favourites; and I advise all you gamblers wishing to win tonight to take those points.
Its no secret that the Cyclones have one of the most talented offensive teams in the country this year. They are 4th in the entire nation averaging 85 points per game and have been simply out muscling opponents all year. Which indirectly points toward this game coming down to the Mountaineer’s ability to limit Iowa State’s scoring and control the pace of this game; two things I expect they will struggle to do. If they allow the Cyclones to score at their average pace this season you can go ahead and chalk up the victory for Iowa State; West Virginia is 3-6 this season when allowing opponents to score 80 points or more in a game.
The play of the Mountaineer’s point guard Juwan Staten could very well decide this game. He logs more minutes per game than any other player in the BIG 12 and sits second in points scored per game. If he doesn’t perform at his highest ability then you can practically kiss the Mountaineers chance of winning this game goodbye. As for Iowa State, the man to watch one their side of the ball is Melvin Ejim. He leads the Cyclones and the BIG 12 averaging 19.8 points per game, shoots 53.2% from the field, and an impressive 37.7% from beyond the ark. West Virginia’s game plan has to include limiting his touches. If Ejim gets it going the Mountaineers defenders will be forced to drop down to help leaving Iowa State wide open looks from around the perimeter. If that happens expect Iowa State to win this game convincingly. Nobody in the BIG 12 has made more 3-pointers than the Cyclones this season and with the Mountaineers ranking 183 in the country allowing teams to convert 34.3% of the time from deep; Iowa State looks in great shape to improve to 7-4 in BIG 12 play this season.
TRENDS
IOWA STATE
- 7-3 against the spread in their last 10 road games as a favourite between 0.5-6.5 points
- 6-3 straight up in their last 9 road games
- 1-5 against the spread in their last 6 games as a home underdog
- 9-23-1 against the spread in their last 33 home games
- 2-8-1 against the spread in their last 11 home games as an underdog between 0.5-6.5 points