College Basketball Odds, Pick for Oklahoma vs Iowa State

As Houston continues to tally wins and just moved to No. 1 in the AP Poll, Iowa State is quietly hanging around in second place in the Big 12 standings, just one game behind.

The Cyclones are having their best season since the days of Fred Hoiberg. Including this game on Wednesday against Oklahoma, Iowa State figures to be favored in its last four regular season games. Even if the Cyclones were to win out, they'll still need Houston to drop one in order to attain a share of the Big 12 title.

After beginning the season 10-0, Oklahoma is reeling slightly. Losses to Baylor and Kansas preceded a real scare in Stillwater this past Saturday. Javian McCollum's buzzer-beater prevented the Sooners from dropping their third straight game.

Iowa State fans will surely be hoping their team can send Oklahoma off to the SEC with a loss in what figures to be the Sooners' last game in Hilton Coliseum for quite some time.

The matchup between Oklahoma and Iowa State features two teams that would likely agree their strength lies within their respective defenses.

While Oklahoma ranks as a respectable top-25 defensive unit, Iowa State is elite. The Cyclones are the nation's third-ranked defense, according to KenPom, and will have the advantage of playing at home Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, the Sooners' offense has sputtered at times, and turnovers and poor shot selection has actually led to transition opportunities that have hurt their defensive statistics.

The biggest issue offensively for Oklahoma may be the lack of a true leader and alpha that can score when things aren't flowing well.

In Big 12 play, Oklahoma has had five individual players lead the team in scoring in a given game. Porter Moser likely is pleased with his team's willingness to share the ball — if he's viewing things with an optimistic perspective. Still, he likely understands his team needs a more consistently reliable option.

The Sooners have a solid eight-man rotation, with no player averaging more than 31 minutes per game. Rivaldo Soares doesn't start for Moser but has led Oklahoma in scoring in two of the past five games. Soares transferred to Norman from Oregon, where he played his first two seasons.

McCollum and Jalon Moore were also portal finds for Moser and rank first and third in scoring for the Sooners this season, respectively.

Scoring balance can be an efficient route to points if the ball is moving, as Moser pointed out in his press conference following the Oklahoma State win. The Sooners will need to break down Iowa State's defense with ball movement and activity to create good shots in half-court sets.

Doing so will slow down the tempo of the game and prevent Iowa State from getting easy buckets with transition offense.

Iowa State is in position to do something not many thought was possible in the preseason. After losing four key roster pieces in the offseason, Iowa State was picked to finish seventh in the Big 12 in the preseason coaches poll.

Now, after exceeding expectations and benefitting slightly from the Big 12's unbalanced schedule, the Cyclones are in position to potentially win the Big 12.

It feels like a lifetime ago, but Iowa State actually dropped its Big 12 opener on January 6 to the very same Oklahoma team it's preparing to face back at home Wednesday night. McCollum had 15 points and five assists in the first matchup in Norman.

McCollum also played 37 minutes as the primary defender on Iowa State's star guard Tamin Lipsey.

Lipsey played arguably his worst game of the season against the Sooners, tallying only four points on 1-of-10 shooting.

Lipsey and his teammate Keshon Gilbert have led the success of the team throughout the whole year, but were quite frustrated in that first matchup on both ends of the floor. Gilbert added only six points to Lipsey's four, and ultimately those 10 points equaled the number of fouls Lipsey and Gilbert combined for.

Both players were forced to watch the final seconds of the loss tick off from the bench after fouling out.

The Cyclones didn't let that loss deter their goals for the season, as they immediately turned the page and knocked off Houston in Hilton Coliseum in their next game. Iowa State ultimately split the season series with Houston after losing on Big Monday last week.

Then, although it was ultimately a victorious effort, Iowa State struggled to get past West Virginia on Saturday.

T.J. Otzelberger will be motivated to lead his team back to the type of play that has the Cyclones sitting second in the Big 12 standings after two consecutive less-than-stellar efforts.

It may sound lazy, but Oklahoma, at this point in the season, is seemingly a diet version of Iowa State.

Neither team has a standout, All-American caliber scorer. Neither team is particularly quick or athletic, considering both rosters are built with a considerable number of mid-major transfers. And both teams win with defense and patience offensively.

At this point in the season, teams are fatigued and physically battered. Neither team plays with pace as a rule, and I think both will be content to slow the game down and play primarily in the half court.

The first matchup totaled 134 points and came at a much different point in the season, when both teams should've been fairly fresh following the holiday break.

I'd be surprised if the total in this game eclipses the previous matchup, so I'm taking the under and trusting each team to play to their identity.

Pick: Under 139.5 (Play to 136.5)