The South Dakota State Jackrabbits and the Iowa State Cyclones meet Thursday in the college basketball NCAA Tournament First Round at the Chi Health Center Omaha. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a South Dakota State vs. Iowa State Prediction.
South Dakota State Team Preview
The South Dakota State Jackrabbits come into the NCAA tournament as the Summit League champion, finishing with a record of 22-12 on the year. Zeke Mayo leads South Dakota State in scoring and assists with 18.9 PPG, 5.8 RPG and 3.5 APG while Luke Appel has 11.6 PPG with 4.3 RPG and Charlie Easley has 12.3 PPG with 5.5 RPG. William Kyle III has 13 PPG with 6.5 RPG to cap off the scoring in double figures for South Dakota State so far this season. As a team, South Dakota State is averaging 76.8 PPG on 48.3% shooting from the field, 36.2% from three and 70.9% from the foul line this season.
Iowa State Team Preview
The Iowa State Cyclones come into the NCAA tournament repping the Big 12 as the tournament champions, sitting at 27-7 on the year. Keshon Gilbert leads the Cyclones in scoring with 13.5 PPG along with 4.4 RPG and 4.2 APG while Tamin Lipsey has 12.5 PPG with 4.7 RPG and a team-high 4.8 APG and 2.7 SPG to lead the Cyclones in assists and steals. Milan Momcilovic has 10.8 PPG with 3.1 RPG while Curtis Jones has 10.6 PPG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Iowa State so far this season. Tre King has 9.4 PPG with a team-high 5.2 RPG to lead the Cyclones on the glass this season. As a team, Iowa State is averaging 75.8 PPG on 46.3% shooting from the field, 34.1% from three and 69.5% from the foul line this season.
South Dakota State vs. Iowa State Prediction
I’m on Iowa State here. It’s a big number for a defense first team like the Cyclones, but the thing is that South Dakota State hasn’t really faced off against a team like this with this level of defense and the closest comparison saw South Dakota State lose 91-68 to Kansas State. Iowa State has a defense that travels and looked really good in the Big 12 tournament and I don’t see them slowing down here. Give me Iowa State.