Wednesday NCAA: Big 12 Tournament – Iowa State vs. Texas

The Texas Longhorns have been one of the major disappointments this college basketball season. It sure didn’t start out that way, as UT was 17-0 at one point and No. 1 in the nation for the first time. But since then, the Horns are just 6-8 and enter the Big 12 Tournament unranked and without even a first-round bye, having to face a dangerous Iowa State team on Wednesday night in Kansas City.

Still, the Horns are 8.5-point favorites on WagerWeb.com’s NCAA odds.

The Cyclones (15-16, 4-12) finished second-from-last in the Big 12 during the regular season and ended losing eight of 10 games. But they did close the season with a pretty impressive 85-82 overtime victory over Top 10 team Kansas State – that ended ISU’s 21-game losing streak to ranked opponents. Despite the disappointing season, Iowa State coach Greg McDermott received receiving a vote of confidence from athletic director Jamie Pollard.

The Cyclones have not won a Big 12 Tournament game since a 77-57 win over Baylor in the 2005 Big 12 Championship. ISU and Texas have never met in the tournament. If star Craig Brackins records one blocked shot against UT he would become just the second player in school history with 1,500 points, 700 rebounds and 100 blocks in a career.

Texas leads the all-time series vs. Iowa State at 11-8 and has won the last five games in the series. UT defeated ISU, 90-83 in Ames on Jan. 13 in the only meeting between the two schools his year. Avery Bradley led the Longhorns with 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field and a 4-of-4 effort from 3-point range. ISU’s last victory in the series was a 92-80 overtime win at Austin in 2005.

The Longhorns have advanced to the title game of the Big 12 Championship in four of the last six years (2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008). Texas is the only school in the league to have won at least two games at this tournament in each of the last four years.

However, Texas comes off a regular-season finale crushing by Baylor, with UT allowing its most points all season (92). All-American Damion James is the star, leading the Horns in scoring (17.7 ppg) and rebounding (10.2 rpg). He has recorded a team-best 15 double-doubles and ranks second on the team in blocks (36) and leads the squad in steals (49).

The winner of this game faces Baylor on Thursday.

Bet on college basketball at WagerWeb.com

Wednesday’s first round (all times Eastern)

No. 8 Colorado vs. No. 9 Texas Tech, 12:30 p.m.

No. 5 Missouri vs. No. 12 Nebraska, 3 p.m.

No. 7 Oklahoma State vs. No. 10 Oklahoma, 7 p.m.

No. 6 Texas vs. No. 11 Iowa State, 9:30 p.m.

Bet on college basketball at WagerWeb.com

Bet on Sports at Bodog Sportsbook and cash in on your share of huge bonuses!

Popularity: 1% [?]

Subscribe to comments You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Post Tags:

Browse Timeline