The Iowa State Cyclones travel to the Allen Fieldhouse on Monday night to take on the Kansas Jayhawks.
The Cyclones bounced back from a beating against Oklahoma with a blowout win over the Texas Longhorns in their last outing. Iowa State will finish their season without star guard Tyler Haliburton who suffered a season-ending wrist injury. The Jayhawks are the #3 ranked team in the nation and they are bringing a 10-game winning streak to this contest. Kansas is coming off a rout of Oklahoma in their last assignment. The Jayhawks lead their all-time head to head series at 183-66 and are 94-16 vs Iowa State when playing in Lawrence. They defeated the Cyclones 79-53 in their first meeting of the season last January 8, 2020.
Iowa State suffered a big blow when Tyler Haliburton suffered a wrist injury that ended his season prematurely. But after getting blown out by Oklahoma, the resilient Cyclones refused to go away as they blasted a short-handed Texas Longhorns squad 81-52 in their last outing.
Without Haliburton, three starters stepped up their game and put up at least 17 points. Michael Jacobson led the Cyclones with 21 points and 13 rebounds while Prentiss Nixon and Solomon Young each scored 17 for Iowa State which has won two out of its last three assignments.
The Cyclones are scoring an average of 73.8 points per game and are allowing their opponents to score an average of 71.9 points per game. Iowa State is pulling down 34.9 rebounds per contest and they are dishing off 14.7 assists per game, 76th overall in college basketball.
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The Kansas Jayhawks are surging with 10 straight wins and they are now only one game back in the conference standings. The Jayhawks are 11-1 in the Big 12 and just one game behind unbeaten Baylor. In their last outing, Kansas wiped out Oklahoma 87-70 in Kansas last Saturday night.
Marcus Garrett scored a career-high 24 points in the victory. Garrett had made a total of five three-pointers in his first 11 Big 12 games combined but made a total of six against the Sooners. Devon Dotson added 19 points while Udoka Azubuike had 15 points and 17 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the season and the 18th of his collegiate career.
The Jayhawks own the 8th best scoring defense in the nation at 60.2 points per game allowed this season. They are grabbing an average of 38.7 rebounds per contest and are issuing an average of 14.3 assists per game. Kansas is 93rd in the NCAA in scoring at 74.8 points per game.
Iowa State is 4-10 SU in their last 14 games played. The Cyclones are 0-11 SU in their last 11 games played on the road. Kansas is 14-6 SU in their last 20 games played. The Jayhawks are 5-0 SU in their last five games played at home. Head to head, Kansas is 6-3 SU in their last nine games played against Iowa State.
The Cyclones beat up a bad Texas team in their last outing but they are going to get hammered here. Iowa State is allowing opposing teams to shoot 49.1% when they play on the road. That should pave the way for a big offensive outing from Kansas. The Jayhawks are red hot heading to this game. Add the homecourt advantage and I think that the Cyclones will be run over by a locomotive.
Kansas is on a roll right now with 10 consecutive wins. Iowa State lost its best player to injury. Without Haliburton, I think this is a mismatch on offense. Given how good the Jayhawks’ defense has been, I don’t think there will be a let-up here, not at home. I like Kansas to pick up a convincing win here.
PREDICTION: KANSAS JAYHAWKS
The Cyclones are 2-4 ATS in their last six games played. Iowa State is 2-6 ATS in their last eight games played on the road, 3-6 ATS in their last nine games against the Big 12, and 4-9 ATS in their last 13 February games. Head to head, the Cyclones are 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games played against the Jayhawks.
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Iowa State couldn’t beat Kansas last month and lost by 26 points even with Haliburton playing for them. Haliburton is done for the season and I don’t think that the Cyclones have enough firepower to stop the rampaging Jayhawks. Iowa State is 0-4 ATS in their last four games against an opponent with a winning record of at least .600, and 0-4 ATS in their last four games as betting underdogs.
PREDICTION: KANSAS -16
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The Cyclones will be without Haliburton here and they scored only 53 points with him playing in that first meeting. Iowa State also shot just 34.5% against Kansas in that game so I don’t think they will do any better here, especially since that first meeting was played at their home floor. Kansas’ defense has allowed an average of 55.0 points in their last three outings. I think the Jayhawks’ defense smothers the undermanned Cyclones here, leading to a low-scoring game.
PREDICTION: UNDER 144
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