Baylor Bears vs Iowa State Cyclones Prediction, 12/31/2022 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Baylor Bears vs Iowa State Cyclones

Date: Saturday, December 31, 2022

Location: James H. Hilton Coliseum in Ames, IA

TV: Youtube TV

The Baylor Bears (9-2) are hitting the road to James H. Hilton Coliseum on Saturday where they will meet the Iowa State Cyclones (9-2).

The Baylor Bears played Northwestern State and went home with a win by a final score of 58-48 in their last contest. Concerning fouls, the Bears ended up with 9 while Northwestern State racked up 15 fouls. They made 7 out of their 28 attempts from beyond the arc. Northwestern State ended up going 50.0% from the free throw line by burying 3 of their 6 shots. Additionally, Northwestern State grabbed 32 boards (12 offensive, 20 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. Northwestern State doled out 7 assists and had 7 steals for the matchup. Regarding defense, Baylor allowed the other team to shoot 31.7% from the field on 19 of 60 shooting. They also recorded 13 assists in the game as well as forcing 10 turnovers and earning 3 steals. When it comes to pulling down boards, they earned 38 with 11 of them being offensive. From the free throw line, the Bears made 8 of 11 attempts for a rate of 72.7%. Baylor ended with a 38.9% FG percentage (21 out of 54) and made 8 of their 25 three-point attempts.

Jalen Bridges is one guy who was a contributor in this contest. He shot 62.5% from the field but finished the game without a dime. He played 26 minutes and also pulled down 7 boards. He accumulated 13 points on 5 out of 8 shooting.

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Baylor will enter this contest with a record of 9-2 so far this season. They turn it over 13.5 times per contest and as a group are committing 18.1 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Baylor is pulling down 36.2 boards per game and has totaled 190 dimes for the campaign, which ranks 106th in the country in terms of passing. The Bears are hitting 35.5% on 3-pointers (108 of 304) and 72.1% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 80.4 pts per game (40th in the country) while hitting 47.5% from the floor.

On defense, the Bears have forced 16.6 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 18.5 personal fouls. They currently rank 163rd in the country in allowing assists to their opponents with 153 conceded for the year. The Bears defense is giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 42.5% (251 of 590) and they surrender 30.8 rebounds per contest as a group. They are conceding 35.3% from 3-point land while they are 118th in D-1 in PPG allowed (66.3).

When they last stepped on the court, the Iowa State Cyclones got the win with a final of 73-57 when they played Western Michigan. The Cyclones were able to collect 20 defensive boards and 3 offensive rebounds totaling 23 in the game. They turned the ball over 11 times, while earning 11 steals for this contest. Western Michigan earned 11 fouls in this contest which got the Cyclones to the charity stripe for a total of 8 shots. They were able to bury 4 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 50.0%. In the matter of 3-point shots, Iowa State knocked down 7 out of their 18 tries (38.9%). At the conclusion of this game, the Cyclones finished the game shooting 31 out of 49 from the floor which gave them a rate of 63.3%. The Cyclones permitted Western Michigan to make 20 of 52 attempts from the floor which had them at 38.5% in this game. They wrapped up this game 38.2% from downtown by going 13 of 34 and ended up going 4 of 5 from the free throw line (80.0%). In the matter of team rebounding, Iowa State allowed Western Michigan to snag 23 overall (8 on the offensive side).

Caleb Grill ended up being important for the Cyclones in this matchup. He tallied 14 points in his 33 mins of playing time and totaled 1 assist in this matchup. He converted 5 of 7 for the contest giving him a field goal percentage of 71.4%, and had 6 rebounds.

Iowa State has a record of 9-2 for the campaign. The Cyclones are committing 18.2 personal fouls per game while shooting 67.9% from the charity stripe. They are getting an assist 16.5 times per contest (31st in Division 1) and they turn it over 12.8 times per contest. Iowa State has tallied 780 points for the year (70.9 per contest) and they collect 33.1 rebounds per contest. When it comes to offense, the Cyclones are hitting on 46.2% from the field, which is 122nd in Division 1.

The Cyclones on the defensive side of the court are 9th in college basketball in points per game surrendered with 56.9. They are able to force 20.9 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 38.5% from the floor (29th in college basketball). The Iowa State defense concedes 30.7% on shots from 3-point land (79 of 257) and their opponents are making 73.1% of their free throw attempts. They have given up 10.3 assists and 32.9 rebounds on a nightly basis, which has them ranked 40th and 117th in college hoops.

Who will win tonight's NCAA basketball game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Baylor

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