Iowa State is 14 games into their season and still undefeated, a testimony to their ability to reload at the guard spot. DeAndre Kane proved against Baylor that he is a special talent whose veteran presence will be extremely beneficial for his team.
But this game will be a real test for the Cyclones regardless of what Kansas did in Norman the other night. The Jayhawks simply had far too much size and interior toughness for the Sooners to overcome, but that won’t be the case here.
Oklahoma is one of the weaker defensive groups in the conference, but they not only rival the Cyclones in offensive efficiency. They also play an incredibly similar style which is predicated upon high tempo. Neither team has a massive inside presence either and most of the forwards here have serious stretch ability.
While Kane is quite a talent, the Sooners actually have better point guard depth. Four players on their roster average at least two assists per game, and Jordan Woodard, Buddy Hield and Isaiah Cousins can all handle the ball and average close to 30 MPG each.
Cameron Clark also provides a nice alternative to butt heads with the talented Georges Niang. Clark is hitting from the perimeter at a 43% clip and has the skillset to at least be comfortable in defending the types of things Niang wants to do.
Niang, in addition to Kane, is one of the most important Cyclones. He is an excellent screener at the top of their sets and has great instincts in terms of knowing when to slip to the basket or pop and shoot. He is literally a threat to score from virtually anywhere and, while not a great athlete, he has “old man” instincts which serve him well.
This current spread of 3.5 is pretty fair in my estimation. ISU has done enough this year to warrant being favored in this spot. Still, 76% of spread bets are coming in on road favorite. The Cyclones come off the Baylor game and have Kansas on deck for Monday night. This is a tough sandwich spot for them and could be a difficult game to get up for given the circumstances.
Oklahoma +3.5
