Iowa vs Iowa State 12/8/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Iowa State Cyclones and the Iowa Hawkeyes meet Thursday in college basketball action from Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa State is currently 7-1 overall. The Cyclones beat St. John’s in their last game. As for Iowa, they’re 6-2 on the season and fresh off a loss to Duke. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Iowa State hit a five-game win streak to start the season, taking out IUPUI, NC A&T, Milwaukee, Villanova and North Carolina. After a loss to UConn, Iowa State bounced back with wins over North Dakota and St. John’s. 

In the St. John’s game, the Cyclones took a 33-22 lead into the second half. Iowa State cruised from there in a 71-60 win. Jaren Holmes put up 14 points to lead the team, and Aljaz Kunc added 12 points with eight boards. 

Over on the Iowa side, they beat Bethune-Cookman, NC A&T, Seton Hall, Omaha and Clemson before a game six loss to TCU. The Hawkeyes would then beat Georgia Tech and fall to Duke over their next two outings. 

Matched up against Duke on Tuesday, the Hawkeyes trailed by six at the break. Iowa couldn’t keep pace in the second half and ended up with a 74-62 defeat. Both Patrick McCaffrey and Dasonte Bowen scored 12 points apiece to lead the team. 

PICK: I’m probably staying with Iowa State. The Cyclones posted a nice win over a very good St. John’s team in their last matchup, shooting 42.9 percent from the floor with 17 team assists. Iowa State still has some things to clean up, however; they shot a rough 18-of-28 (64.3 percent) from the line and were out-rebounded 37-36. The Cyclones offense has been rolling along nicely this year; they’ve hit 68 or more points in six of eight games so far. 

As for Iowa, they’ve scored 74 or more points in six of their eight games but only a combined 128 in their two losses. The Hawkeyes are probably going to post a big total here as well and I don’t think they’ll quite reach a cover.