West Virginia rose as high as No. 2 in the polls, but the Mountaineers have dropped four of their past five games to slip to No. 15 in the AP poll. They are on upset alert on Wednesday night in Big 12 action at unranked Iowa State as Ames is always a tough place to play even if ISU is a home betting underdog in the NCAA Basketball lines.
However, starting point guard Nick Weiler-Babb will miss at least the next two games because of tendinitis in his left knee. Weiler-Babb is averaging 11.6 points and a team-best 6.9 assists per game. Junior forward Zoran Talley Jr. is expected to start in Weiler-Babb’s place on Wednesday night.
Lindell Wigginton, a two-time Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honoree, is second among Big 12 freshmen in scoring average (15.9), his seven 20-point efforts trail only Marcus Fizer and Curtis Stinson’s freshman record of eight 20-point games. He saw his streak of five consecutive games in double figures come to an end against Tennessee (nine points). Wigginton’ 45 three-pointers made are second-most on ISU’s freshman chart, just 16 behind Jake Sullivan’s record.
Iowa State has 26 wins vs. top 25 teams since 2013-14, fifth-most nationally. The Cyclones are 1-3 this season against the top-25 with eight of their remaining 10 regular season games against teams currently receiving top-25 votes.
WVU at Iowa State NCAA Basketball Lines & Game Preview
When: Wednesday, 7 PM ET Where: Hilton Coliseum, Ames, Iowa TV: ESPNU Stream: WatchESPN Radio: Mountaineer Sports Network (WVU) / 1430 AM (Iowa State) Opening NCAA Basketball Lines: WVU -9Another top-25 team awaits. Let’s get back after it tomorrow against No. 15 West Virginia. #Cyclones 📄 https://t.co/oj1JMwHoPs pic.twitter.com/7yuPXjKjDy
— Cyclone Basketball (@CycloneMBB) January 30, 2018
Last Season
West Virginia won two of three games vs. ISU last year. The one in Ames was 85-72. Nathan Adrian scored a career-high 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Tarik Phillip had 15 points for the Mountaineers, who hit 10 3s and forced 16 turnovers. Matt Thomas scored 19 points for Iowa State. Deonte Burton scored 11 points with a career-high 10 assists — but he also had five turnovers. The Mountaineers scored 23 points off turnovers. Iowa State had just six. The last meeting was in the 2017 Big 12 Tournament final, an 80-74 ISU upset win. Iowa State has never lost in four appearances in the Big 12 title game, while the Mountaineers remain without a conference tournament title of any kind since winning the Big East in 2010. West Virginia has won the last four regular-season meetings against Iowa State but trails the Cyclones, 6-5, in the overall series.Latest NCAA Basketball Betting Trends
- West Virginia is 2-4 ATS in the last 6 games
- West Virginia is 16-4 SU in the last 20 games
- The total went UNDER in 6 of West Virginia’s last 9 games on the road
- Iowa State is 3-6 ATS in the last 9 games
- Iowa State is 2-7 SU in the last 9 games
- The total went UNDER in 4 of Iowa State’s last 5 games
Why Bet on West Virginia?
WVU (16-5, 5-3) was 15-1 and 4-0 in the Big 12 not long ago. The Mountaineers lost their second straight Saturday, 83-76 at home vs. Kentucky in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. After scoring 48 first half points, the Mountaineers were held to just 28 in the second half and lost for the third time this year when leading a game by a double-digit margin. West Virginia led Texas Tech by 11 with 13 minutes to go before falling, 72-71, in Lubbock. The Mountaineers had Kansas down by 16 in the first half and had a double-figure lead in the second half before falling 71-66 to the Jayhawks in Morgantown. And then Saturday, West Virginia had UK down 54-37 following Sagaba Konate’s jumper with 17 minutes to go. West Virginia, which shot just 32.4 percent in the second half, got 26 from Jevon Carter (18 of those coming in the first half) and 17 off the bench from James Bolden. In this 1-4 stretch, Bob Huggins’ team is dealing with a number of players in shooting slumps at the same time. Senior Daxter Miles Jr. has made just 15.4 percent from 3 over his last five games. Freshman Teddy Allen, after scoring 57 points in West Virginia’s first three Big 12 games, has scored just eight points since. He is just 1-of-13 from the floor since the Oklahoma game. Junior forward Esa Ahmad, after contributing 33 points in his first two games back after serving a 16-game suspension, has scored just eight in his last three games and has failed to make a basket in his last 12 attempts.Why Bet on Iowa State?
ISU (11-9, 2-6) was routed 68-45 at home by No. 22 Tennessee on Saturday in the Challenge. That was a season-low points scored for Iowa State. Tennessee missed 15 of its first 17 shots to fall into a quick early hole. But the Vols soon settled down in their first trip to Hilton Coliseum, closing the first half on a 26-7 run. It was the Cyclones’ worst nonconference loss since rival Iowa beat the Cyclones by 25 in 2001. Senior Hans Brase replaced talented freshman Cam Lard in the starting lineup for the first time. Brase went scoreless while Lard finished with six points and nine rebounds, and coach Steve Prohm said after the game that Lard’s brief benching was “between me and him.” Prohm said Lard will be back in the starting lineup on Wednesday against West Virginia. Lard is the Cyclones’ top inside threat averaging 11.7 points and grabbing a team-best 7.4 rebounds per game.
However, starting point guard Nick Weiler-Babb will miss at least the next two games because of tendinitis in his left knee. Weiler-Babb is averaging 11.6 points and a team-best 6.9 assists per game. Junior forward Zoran Talley Jr. is expected to start in Weiler-Babb’s place on Wednesday night.
Lindell Wigginton, a two-time Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honoree, is second among Big 12 freshmen in scoring average (15.9), his seven 20-point efforts trail only Marcus Fizer and Curtis Stinson’s freshman record of eight 20-point games. He saw his streak of five consecutive games in double figures come to an end against Tennessee (nine points). Wigginton’ 45 three-pointers made are second-most on ISU’s freshman chart, just 16 behind Jake Sullivan’s record.
Iowa State has 26 wins vs. top 25 teams since 2013-14, fifth-most nationally. The Cyclones are 1-3 this season against the top-25 with eight of their remaining 10 regular season games against teams currently receiving top-25 votes.
