The Portland State Vikings and the Iowa Hawkeyes meet in college basketball action from Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Friday night.
The Portland State Vikings will look to bounce back from a 69-54 loss at the hands of Portland last time out. James Jean-Marie leads the Vikings in scoring and rebounding with 15 PPG and 10.2 RPg while Marlon Ruffin has 12.3 PPG and Khalid Thomas has 9.8 PPG with 5.5 RPG and Paris Dawson has 9.7 PPG while Ezekiel Alley has 7.3 PPG and a team-high 4.5 APG. As a team, Portland State is averaging 80.5 PPG on 45.4% shooting from the field and 25.6% from three to go along with a 71.2% mark from the foul line while allowing 61 PPG on 35.4% shooting from the field and 24.7% from three this season.
The Iowa Hawkeyes will look to build on a 109-61 win over Western Michigan last time out. Keegan Murray has a team-high 26.2 PPG and 8.8 RPG while Kris Murray has 12.8 PPG with 7 RPG and Patrick McCaffrey has 12 PPG. Jordan Bohannon has 11 PPG and Payton Sandfort has 10.5 PPG to make up the group of double-digit scorers for Iowa up to this point in the year. Joe Toussaint has a team-high 5.4 APG as well this season for Iowa. As a team, Iowa is averaging 99.6 PPG on 50.3% shooting from the field, 39.4% from three and 83.9% from the foul line while allowing 68.4 PPG on 41.8% shooting from the field and 31.9% from three this season.
Portland State is 1-7-1 ATS in their last 9 games following a double-digit loss at home and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 Friday games while the under is 5-1 in their last 6 road games against a team with a winning home record. Iowa is 24-11-3 ATS in their last 38 home games and 2-5-1 ATS in their last 8 games following a win while the over is 7-0 in their last 7 games overall.
I get the case that can be made for an underdog in most spots, but the Vikings just don’t have the horses to keep up with the Hawkeyes for a full 40 minutes. The concern with the Hawkeyes is that they take their foot off of the gas, but I think the more likely outcome is a win and cover for Iowa here.