Wisconsin Going After the First trip to Regionals Since 2017
Johnny Davis of Wisconsin is one of the top contenders for National Player of the Year and he will look to lead Wisconsin to back-to-back NCAA tournament wins for the first time in five years.
Iowa State’s offensive rating is 281st out of 358 Division I teams while Wisconsin has mediocre numbers in both offensive and defensive ratings so points could be hard to come by in this Midwest Region second-round game.
Wisconsin (+4000) is tied for 14th in the odds to win the national championship while Iowa State is well back at +22500.
Hunter, Brockington Lead Iowa State in the March Madness opener
If there was a team from a big conference expected to bid adieu in the first round, Iowa State would have been right near the top of the list.
The Cyclones were one of the feel-good stories earlier in the season as a team expected to have a better chance of finishing last in the Big 12 than being a part of the March Madness bracket won their first 11 games. Success has been harder to come by lately. Iowa State lost all three of its games in March including a paltry 41-point effort in a loss to Texas Tech in the Big 12 Tournament.
Facing a Louisiana State team that recently fired head coach Will Wade when the university received notification of alleged NCAA rules violations, Iowa State trailed for less than a minute in a game that certainly didn’t set any NCAA offensive records.
Freshman Tyrese Hunter and Izaiah Brockington combined for 42 points with Hunter hitting seven 3-pointers. The rest of the team went 6 of 27 and that won’t work against Wisconsin.
Iowa State is 1-5 against the Las Vegas odds in its last six games against Big Ten opponents.
Wisconsin Found Way To Survive and Advance
Midway through the second half, Wisconsin found itself in serious trouble against Patriot League champion Colgate as the Red Raiders were on the verge of defying the March Madness odds.
It took a 3-pointer from Steven Crowl with 8:11 to play to put Wisconsin in front and the defense took care of the rest. Colgate missed seven shots and committed three turnovers as the Red Raiders were held scoreless for more than seven minutes.
Davis finished with 25 points but it took 20 shots to get there. The go-ahead basket by Crowl was just one of his two field goals in the game.
Wisconsin’s perimeter defense was spotty as Colgate made 10 3-pointers but the Badgers held the Red Raiders to 34% shooting inside the 3-point line to advance to the second round for the sixth time in their last seven NCAA tournament appearances.
The Badgers have now won 12 of their last 14 opening games of #MarchMadness, including 4 of 5 under head coach Greg Gard pic.twitter.com/Fdl5kTwwa2
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) March 19, 2022
Wisconsin is 5-10 against the college basketball spreads in its last 15 games.
Iowa State vs. Wisconsin Head-to-Head
Iowa State has won five of the seven matchups with Wisconsin including the last two but the series history won’t be of much use to those who bet online since the most recent meeting came in 1981 and six of the games came from 1959-1977.
Wisconsin has won its last three meetings against No. 11 seeds topping Kansas State in 2009, Northern Iowa in 2005 and Richmond in 2004.
Iowa State hasn’t faced a No. 3 seed since a one-point win over favored Cincinnati in 1997.
Iowa State vs. Wisconsin Game Information
- Game: Iowa State (21-12) vs. Wisconsin (25-7)
- Location: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Day/Time: Sunday, March 20, 6:10 p.m. ET
- Live Stream: TBS.com
- 2022 March Madness bracket
Iowa State vs. Wisconsin Betting Lines
Iowa State vs. Wisconsin Prediction
Freshman guard Lorne Bowman hasn’t played since mid-February leaving Wisconsin down one of the seven players to average more than 10 minutes per game.
Iowa State is one of the worst rebounding teams in the country and won its opener despite being outrebounded 38-29. It is one of the reasons why the March Madness predictions have this being the end of the line for the Cyclones.
Defense is the calling card for the Cyclones who rank in the top 30 nationally in scoring defense and steals per game.
Wisconsin will need to get some offensive support for Davis as Tyler Wahl was the only other double-digit scorer against Colgate.
The Badgers didn’t look like a title contender in its March Madness opener but should be able to take care of business against Iowa State.
Pick: Wisconsin -195
Pick: Wisconsin -4½ (-110)
