College basketball betting is heating up as the NCAA basketball tournament is at the halfway point of the postseason. In our Sweet Sixteen preview, we are taking a look at the match up of Iowa State versus Illinois in the East Region Semifinals in this year’s March Madness. The Iowa State Cyclones (29-7) are in the Sweet Sixteen for the second time in three years. They will be facing Illinois (28-8), who have reached this far for the first time since 2005.
The game starts 10:09 PM ET on March 28 at the TD Garden in Boston. Iowa State are the favorites to win by 1.5, with the totals at 146. Iowa State are 26-10 ATS this season, while Illinois are 21-13-1 ATS this season. If you want to open a basketball betting site, you should know the important betting trends and stats of teams to help you manage the lines better.
Sweet Sixteen Preview
Can Iowa State Deliver?
In their game against Washington State in the Second Round last weekend, fans and bettors were troubled, seeing a 27-27 tie by halftime. But the Cyclones were able to get ahead in the last 20 minutes of the game by 40-29 to win the game.
In their last game, Tamin Lipsey led in scoring with 15 points and 5 rebounds. Curtis Jones played off the bench with 14 points. You also have Milan Momcilovic and Keshon Gilbert scoring in double figures in their first two tournament games. With a lot of players capable of delivering good numbers, a lot of fans believe they can beat Illinois to get into the Elite Eight and win in the East.
Will Illinois Cover?
The Fighting Illini are also capable of scoring well. In their last two games, they scored 54.2% and 59.3% respectively. In fact, senior Forward Marcus Domask scored 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in the First Round. Domask is the first player to hit a triple-double in the NCAA Tournament since Ja Morant back in 2019 when he played for Murray State. Your Pay Per Head software will be offering a lot of prop bet options and we expect to see Domask’s to get a lot of action.
Terrence Shannon Jr. is also a force to contend with, scoring 26 points against Morehead State, and scoring 30 points in the Second Round game last Saturday. The challenge here would be Illinois’s ability to get past Iowa State’s impeccable defense. And if they can, then we will see this year’s Illinois roster stay longer in March Madness than previous batches.
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