The Iowa Hawkeyes and the Utah Utes meet Sunday in the college basketball NIT Tournament Second Round at the Huntsman Center. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. The winner of this game will take on VCU or USF in the next round. Here’s an Iowa vs. Utah Prediction.
Iowa Team Preview
The Iowa Hawkeyes come into this game looking to build on their 91-82 win over Kansas State last time out. Iowa was 9th in the Big Ten, where Purdue was a regular season champion. Payton Sandfort leads the Hawkeyes in scoring with 16.7 PPG along with 6.7 RPG and 2.7 APG while Tony Perkins has 14.3 PPG with 4.4 RPG and a team-high 4.7 APG to lead the Hawkeyes in assists. Ben Krikke has 13.8 PPG with 4.8 RPG while Owen Freeman has 10.6 PPG with 6.6 RPG to cap off the scoring in double figures for Iowa so far this season. As a team, Iowa is averaging 82.9 PPG on 47.5% shooting from the field, 34.7% from three and 77.8% from the foul line this season.
Utah Team Preview
The Utah Utes come into this one looking to add to an 84-75 win over UC-Irvine last time out. Branden Carlson leads the Utes In scoring with 17.5 PPG and 6.9 RPG while Gabe Madsen has 13.3 PPG with 3.9 RPG this season. Rollie Worster has 10 PPG with 4.9 RPG and 5.9 APG while Deivon Smith has 12.6 PPG with 5.7 RPG and 6.6 APG, capping off the trio of double-digit scorers for the Utes up to this point in the season. As a team, Utah is averaging 78.3 PPG on 46.6% shooting from the field, 35.8% from three and 65% from the foul line this season.
Iowa vs. Utah Prediction
I’m on Utah here. If this game was on a neutral floor maybe you’d have an easier time convincing me to take Iowa, but Utah’s success mostly game at home this season to begin with and I just don’t know if Iowa’s going to be able to break down Utah’s defense on Utah’s home floor. The Utes have been solid and while getting points with an explosive offense like Iowa’s is tempting, I think there’s too much pointing in Utah’s favor here. Give me the Utes.