Big 12 Tournament: Predicting Oklahoma State vs. Iowa State

The Oklahoma State basketball team faces the no. 23 ranked Iowa State Cyclones in their first game of the Big 12 Tournament today at 11:30 a.m. CT.

The Oklahoma State basketball team faces one of their biggest contests of the season with their first game in the Big 12 Tournament. The Cowboys can avenge their loss to the no. 23 ranked Iowa State Cyclones last week with a victory against them today.

ISU defeated the Cowboys 86-83, last week at Hilton Coliseum in Ames. The Clones swept the regular season series between these two teams. Moreover, that loss to the Clones started the two-game losing streak they have right now.

The line/spread sits in OK State’s favor by 1.5 points with an over/under set at 159.5 points. Yet, that seems a little head-scratching since the Pokes did not beat the Clones once this season. However, OK State’s last defeat against ISU was in an extremely tough place to win on the road.

This time around ISU and OK State meet at a neutral site at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, MO. That’s a much easier place to win than Hilton Coliseum.

All eyes on this game will be focused on the two point guards for each team. ISU’s Monte Morris averaged 16.2 points per game and 6.2 assists. OK State’s Jawun Evans averaged 18.7 points per game and 6.3 assists. Evans and Morris were named All-Americans by Sporting News earlier this week.

ISU and OK State both have highly respected trios that powered their teams to success this season. Along with Morris, the Clones have Nazareth Mitrou-Long and Deonte Burton who averaged more than 30.0 points per game between the two of them. Furthermore, along with Evans, the Pokes have Phil Forte and Jeffrey Carroll that averaged more than 30.0 points per game combined as well.

Freshman point guard Brandon Averette hit a rough patch last week, scoring only three points in the losses to ISU and no. 1 ranked Kansas. Averette and freshman forward Cameron McGriff need to play well today since they saw a spike in their playing time down the stretch.

Tip-off for today’s game is 11:30 a.m. CT at the Sprint Center. You can watch today’s game on ESPN2 and Watch ESPN.

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I predicted the Pokes to lose to the Jayhawks on March 4, but I picked the Cowboys to defeat the Clones in their loss earlier in the week. I think the Cowboys bring home the win today. Hopefully Evans, Forte, and Carroll spearhead OK State to a victory and prove me right.

Oklahoma State 89, Iowa State 85