College Basketball Betting – (15) Oklahoma at (17) Iowa State

(15) Oklahoma Sooners at (17) Iowa State Cyclones (-5.5, 152 o/u)

The No. 15 Oklahoma Sooners (20-8, 11-5 Big 12) still control their own destiny when it comes to the Big 12 regular season title. If the Sooners can win their final two games, they will earn at least a share of the crown for the first time since 2005.

Getting a piece of the title is going to be an uphill climb, though. In addition to beating No. 9 Kansas on Saturday, Oklahoma has to get by No. 17 Iowa State (20-8, 10-6 Big 12) tonight in Ames (9:00 p.m. Eastern).

Tonight’s meeting will be the second of the season between these Big 12 standouts. The home-Sooners won a high-scoring affair in the first (94-83), getting 19 points from Isaiah Cousins, along with 14 points and 12 boards from Ryan Spangler. (Oklahoma covered as 5.5-point favorites and, of course, the total hit the over.)

“The pace of the game was very much up-tempo, and the decisions with the ball were very good,” Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said after the game. “We shared the ball and got it out of our hands quickly to one another. The big guys, when they caught it inside, made good decisions in kicking it out. They took care of it.”

The 94-point outburst was the most points Oklahoma has scored against a ranked team since February 5, 1994 (a 104-94 loss to No. 20 Missouri).

The Iowa State players were bitterly disappointed in their team defense that night. “We let them space us out a little bit, and they were knocking down shots,” said Cyclones junior guard Naz Long. “We know they have great guards, and that’s something that Coach emphasized. The coaches came up with a great game plan — it’s on us to execute it.”

Iowa State has suffered from similar lapses of concentration in its last two games, losses to Baylor (79-70 at home) and Kansas State (70-69 on the road). The two-game skid has dropped the Cyclones from second in the Big 12 into a three-way tie for third with West Virginia and Baylor.

Oklahoma state comes into tonight on a three-game win streak, but those wins came over the Big 12’s bottom three teams: Texas, Texas Tech, and Texas Christian.

Looking at the trends, the Sooners are 2-1 SU in the last three against the Cyclones, and 3-0 ATS. However, they have lost their last three visits to Ames.

The Cyclones are 5.5-point home favorites for tonight’s game, while the o/u is at a very high 152.

(Photo credit: SD Dirk (flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode]. Photo has been cropped.)