Iowa State vs. Pitt Pick – Basketball Predictions & Odds 3/17/23
Iowa State Cyclones (19-13) vs. Pitt Panthers (23-11)
March 17, 2023 3:10 pm EDT
The Line: Iowa State Cyclones -3.5 / College of Charleston Cougars +3.5; Over/Under: +130.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Iowa State Cyclones and the Pitt Panthers meet in college basketball action in an NCAA tournament first round matchup from the Greensboro Coliseum on Friday afternoon.
Iowa State Cyclones Team Preview
The Iowa State Cyclones come into the tournament as a 6-seed after logging a 19-13 overall record, including a 9-9 conference record this season. The Cyclones knocked off Baylor In the quarterfinals before falling to Kansas in the semifinals. Jaren Holmes leads the Cyclones in scoring with 13.4 PPG with 3.3 APG while Gabe Kalscheur has 12.9 PPG as the only other double-digit scorer for Iowa State so far this season. Tamin Lipsey also has a team-high 4.5 APG this season to lead the Cyclones in assists. As a team, Iowa State is averaging 68.4 PPG on 45% shooting from the field, 33.9% from three and 67.4% from three this season.
Pitt Panthers Team Preview
Pitt booked their spot in the first round with a first four win over Mississippi State by a final score of 60-59 last time out. Nelly Cummings led Pitt with 15 points in 6 of 13 shooting with a team-high 4 assists and a pair of steals while Greg Elliott had 13 points with a pair of threes and 5 rebounds. Blake Hinson had 12 points with a pair of threes and Nike Sibande added 11 points with 5 boards and a pair of threes to finish off the group of double-digit scorers for Pitt in the winning effort.
Trends
Pitt is 22-7 ATS in their last 29 games overall and 2-5-1 ATS in their last 8 neutral site games while the over is 4-0 in their last 4 games following an ATS win. Iowa State is 9-4 ATS in their last 13 neutral site games and 4-11 ATS in their last 15 games overall while the under is 6-1 in their last 7 games following an ATS loss.
Pick
I’m sticking with Pitt here. The Panthers had to grind out the win in their opener, but they managed to get it done against a Mississippi State team that I feel plays a similar style to what the Panthers are up against with Iowa State here. I didn’t like how Iowa State finished the year as scoring as an issue and they had a hard time beating anyone not named Baylor. I’ll take my chances with Pitt and the points here.
