The Indiana Hoosiers (8-6, 3-4 Big Ten) have been right on the edge of some big potential wins. They lost to then-#20 Florida State on the road by two, in overtime, and they lost at then-#8 Wisconsin in double overtime. They only lost to Illinois by nine, on the road. They have impressive wins over the likes of Providence, Stanford and Butler, but they need to pick up some consistency if they want to make March Madness. Their game Sunday at Michigan State was postponed due to COVID-19 tests and contact tracing, but they are still set to visit Iowa on Thursday. The Hawkeyes (12-2, 6-1 Big Ten) have only played once since January 10, with games against Michigan State and Nebraska postponed. Their only two losses have come against top-ranked Gonzaga and then at Minnesota in overtime; the Golden Gophers’ home arena seems, so far, to be a deathtrap for ranked opponents.
Can the Hoosiers post a big road upset? Don’t miss our NCAA Basketball betting preview of this Big Ten matchup.
NCAAB: Indiana at Iowa (January 21)
When: Thursday, January 21, 2021, 9:00 pm ET
Where: Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City, IA
TV: FS1
Radio: No National Radio
Live Stream: FOX Sports GO
Why should you bet on the Hoosiers?
Indiana beat Nebraska by eight points on the road back on January 10 but then lost at home to Purdue on January 14, 81-69. In that setback, Purdue shredded Indiana’s perimeter defense, going 11 of 17 from three-point land. That made eight straight wins for the Boilermakers over Indiana, who was led by Trayce Jackson-Davis with 25 points and four boards. Armaan Franklin put up 14 points seven rebounds and three steals.
Indiana shot just 44 percent from the floor. They did turn 14 Purdue turnovers into 23 points, but they allowed Purdue to shoot 53 percent for the game. That differential is not going to translate into wins. If you like the Hoosiers against Iowa, then you likely see the Hawkeyes a little rusty with just one game in the last ten days, and perhaps also a little overconfident, since that one game was a 23-point shellacking of Northwestern.
Why should you put your money on the Hawkeyes?
Iowa has not lost since that Christmas Day overtime thriller at Minnesota. Since then, they have won five in a row, with all but one coming by at least 15 points. On Sunday, they visited Northwestern and rolled to a 96-73 laughter. In that game, Luka Garz needed just 24 minutes to put up 17 points and 10 rebounds. Joe Wieskamp added 16, and C.J. Frederick chipped in 13 points as the Hawkeyes remained tied with Michigan for the lead in the Big Ten standings. Garza was averaging 27.6 points per game coming in but sat for the last 12 minutes of the game due to the margin of victory.
Northwestern got out to a 29-28 lead with about eight minutes left in the first half, but then Iowa went on a 13-0 run, with six of those points coming from Jack Nunge. Iowa went into the half up 12 and then kept going after halftime, opening the second half on a 13-2 run. The Iowa offense continues to score prolifically, once the rotation gets going, and it’s hard to see Indiana stopping that, especially on the road.
Final Score and Prediction
Iowa is fun to watch, and their scoring really has not let up all season long. They have a killer instinct when it comes to finishing off opponents at all levels, instead of playing down to lesser teams’ levels, and that should remain the same with Indiana. I predict a final score of Iowa 85, Indiana 72.
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