Hilton Coliseum has long been considered one of the most difficult places to play in college basketball, and that assertion is substantiated by the fact that the Cyclones are 490-166 (.747) at home since 1971. Under head coach Fred Hoiberg, Iowa State is 57-10 (.851) in Hilton Coliseum, including 44-4 (.917) in the last three seasons. Coach Hoiberg is in his fourth year in Ames and has led the Cyclones to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two seasons.
Iowa State takes the floor with a prolific offense that is averaging 84.1 points per game on 47.2% shooting from the field. More importantly, the Cyclones are 12-1 at home this season where they are averaging 86.0 points per game on 48.9% shooting from the floor. Overall, Iowa State is 13.9 points per game better than average offensively (84.1 points per game against teams that would combine to allow 70.2 points per game), which is good enough to exploit a Texas defense that is 4.6 points per game better than average (69.9 points per game to teams that would combine to average 74.5 points per game). From a fundamental standpoint, Iowa State possesses a significant 9.3 points per game advantage offensively over the Longhorns’ stop unit.
Through 24 games this season, the Cyclones have 446 assists and just 254 turnovers. Iowa State is second nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.76 a/to and first in assists (18.6). Equally impressive is the fact that Iowa State is one of only nine schools nationally with three players averaging at least 15.0 points per game. Melvin Ejim leads the attack with 18.9 points per game and has scored double-figures in 21 of 22 games he’s played this season. From a technical standpoint, Iowa State is a profitable 92-60 ATS at home versus teams with a winning record, 18-5 ATS at home off a conference win and 10-2 ATS following a close win by six or less points, whereas the Longhorns are a money-burning 2-9 ATS after covering the point spread in two or more consecutive games and 10-23 ATS after covering the spread in two of their last three games. Iowa State is a perfect 2-0 SU and ATS in this series at home, and the Cyclones are hungry to avenge their 86-76 loss at Texas on January 18.
Pro Edge Sports Pick: Iowa State (-5) (-110)