In a battle of unbeatens, the Iowa State Cyclones (5-0) and 22nd-ranked UConn Huskies (7-0) will meet for the Phil Knight Invitational title Sunday in Portland at 10 p.m. ET (ESPN). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Iowa State vs. UConn odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
Iowa State stunned No. 1 North Carolina 70-65 in a Friday semifinal. The Cyclones, 5.5-point underdogs, rallied from a 57-49 deficit in the final 5:43. Iowa State G Caleb Grill sank seven 3-pointers (out of 11 attempts) and finished with a career-high 31 points. The senior only averaged 7.3 points per game (PPG) and was 4-for-24 from the 3-point line in the Cyclones’ first 4 games.
UConn defeated 18th-ranked Alabama 82-67 in the other Friday semifinal — the Huskies were 2-point dogs. Junior F Adama Sanogo led the Huskies with a game-high 25 points. UConn is averaging 85.9 PPG to rank 17th in the nation.
This will be a game of contrasting styles as UConn will want to push the tempo, while Iowa State will want to slow the game down a bit and make shots harder to come by for the Huskies.