Oklahoma Vs. Iowa State Odds, Picks, and Predictions (02/19/22)

Oklahoma Vs. Iowa State Odds, Picks, and Predictions (02/19/22)

The Oklahoma Sooners are headed to James H. Hilton Coliseum in Iowa to have their second meeting with the Iowa State Cyclones. The game will be played this Saturday, February 19th, to show who is the better Big 12 competitor. Both teams are tied in 8th place in the Big 12, but a slight advantage is given to the Sooners since they won at their last meeting. Iowa State used to be recognized as #11 in the nation but have fallen in the ranks after taking several beatings from their conference rivals. This game will help separate the victor from the loser and will take one team into 7th place and the other alone in 8th place in the Big 12. Tip-off is set for 1:00 PM CST and can be found on the Big 12 network on ESPN+.

Oklahoma vs. Iowa State Betting Odds

This matchup between the Oklahoma Sooners and the Iowa State Cyclones will prove who is the more fierce competitor in the Big 12 and will have a heavy weight in deciding March Madness eligibility. Iowa State has a significantly better record of 17-9 in overall play compared to Oklahoma’s 14-12. However, they both stand at a weak 4-9 in conference play. The Sooners walked away victorious when they met earlier in the season with a massive score of 79-66. This time, the Cyclones are given the upper hand. Walking into this matchup, the Cyclones are given a -1.5 point favor. ESPN’s matchup predictor also favors the Cyclones with a 58.2% confidence interval of success. The game being on Iowa State turf will give the Cyclones a slight edge, but it’s not as crucial to this team compared to others. 

Both teams are relatively close in record against the spread as well. The Cyclones have gone 14-12 ATS, covering 53.9% of their games. The Sooners have gone 12-14 ATS, only covering 46.2% of their matches. In their last meeting, the Sooners completely dominated offensively, sinking 58.3% of their shots beyond the three-point line. The Sooners’ shot accuracy has decreased steadily in recent games, leaving room for the Cyclones to take advantage. If Iowa State can effectively shut down the perimeter of the Sooners’ offense, they should walk away from this game with another win under their belts.

My Prediction: Iowa State Wins 68-61, Iowa State Covers

Oklahoma Sooners Odds

The tale of the Oklahoma Sooners has been up and down throughout this 2021-2022 season. They have faced some of the most challenging opponents in Men’s Division I basketball and have taken significant losses in recent games. They’re currently on a two-game losing streak after facing the Texas Longhorns in an overtime battle and the marginal loss to the Kansas Jayhawks. Although these games were losses, the team has been playing at their best against some of the most fierce teams in their conference. Their 70-55 victory over the Texas Tech Red Raiders gave this team a bit of confidence but was shot down again. When playing Iowa State, the Sooners showed some of their best basketball we have seen this season. Their shooting abilities in the second half of the game highlight this team’s potential. They need to harness their skill and play at a slower pace in order to give them a fighting chance on the road.

Umoja Gibson has continued to show how powerful he can be on offense. The senior guard has been one of the most clutch players under pressure for this team. He averages 12.4 points per game but puts up massive values against top competitors. Against the Texas Longhorns, he scored 17 and put up an impeccable 30 points against the Texas Tech Red Raiders. However, his skills have been unpredictable since he put up 0 points against the Kansas Jayhawks last week. He was able to shoot 66.7% overall against Iowa State in their previous meeting, scoring 20 points in total. His skill on the perimeter is one of the sole reasons the Sooners are still alive for the playoff tournament, and big scores in this game from Gibson can give the Sooners a fighting chance.

Iowa State Cyclones Odds

The once-dominant team of the Iowa State Cyclones has fallen to competitors within the Big 12 conference in recent weeks. At the start of the season, they were given a very generous national ranking of #11 after going 12-1 in their first 13 games. However, they have since fallen to 17-9 and have gone 5-8 in the latter half of this season. They recently broke their five-game losing streak after taking a 54- 51 win over the TCU Horned Frogs. They’ve fallen to teams that should have been easy victories, such as the West Virginia Mountaineers, due to the lack of offensive help. This team will need to push for more offensive support for their scorer Izaiah Brockington to take on the Sooners again. 

The senior guard transfer from Penn State, Izaiah Brockington, has been the sole offensive backbone to this Iowa State team. He leads the team in points and rebounds, which keeps his team alive in many marginal games. As a whole, the team averages 67 points per game, and Brockington gives them 17 of those points per game. In his last two performances, Brockington put up 20 points against TCU and 27 points against Kansas State in their overtime matchup. In the game against TCU, the team put up 54 points collectively, so Brockington single-handedly scored almost 40% of the team’s points. He has an average field goal percentage of 46.4% and has had great success in the paint and beyond the three-point line. The Sooners will apply heavy pressure against Brockington to not allow him to score 20 points against them again. 

In assisting Brockington, Tyrese Hunter will be another crucial player in this matchup. He averages 10.9 points per game, making him the team’s second-best scorer. Against the Sooners, Hunter also put up 20 points and was especially dominant on the perimeter. Hunter leads the team in assists and steals, so he will be all over the Sooners’ offense trying to force turnovers. The Sooners are notorious for giving up the ball, and pressure from Hunter can make that statistic soar even more. The key to stopping the Oklahoma offense is to allow them to make their own mistakes, and Hunter will be the leading player to aid his team in that asset.

Oklahoma vs. Iowa State Picks and Predictions

This matchup between the Oklahoma Sooners and the Iowa State Cyclones will differ significantly from their last meeting. Oklahoma had a more disciplined team when they met earlier in the season. However, Umoja Gibson continues to prove himself as a threat on the court. The Cyclones will try to feed the ball to Izaiah Brockington the ball as much as possible, which will expose the weaknesses in the Oklahoma defense. This matchup will fall to the team that makes the least amount of errors, which means it should lay with the Cyclones.