Arizona vs. Iowa State: Prediction, Pick, Odds Preview

Iowa State hosts second-place Arizona in an intriguing Big 12 night game on Saturday. The Wildcats started slow but have won and covered seven of their last 10 games.

Iowa State, meanwhile, has faltered in recent weeks, including a damaging loss to Oklahoma State on Tuesday in Stillwater. 

Iowa State needs to rediscover its winning ways if it wants to stay near the No. 3 line in its NCAA Tournament seed projections. If it doesn’t, several teams are lurking to replace the Cyclones in that top-12 zone – including Arizona.

Arizona vs. Iowa State Odds

• Arizona vs. Iowa State Spread: Iowa State -6.5
• Arizona vs. Iowa State Total: 150.5
• Arizona vs. Iowa Moneyline: Iowa State -275

Arizona vs. Iowa State Preview

Iowa State has been reeling of late because it’s been missing its two top scorers in senior guard Curtis Jones and senior guard Keshon Gilbert. Jones has been sick; Gilbert had a muscle strain.

Head coach TJ Otzelberger reported that Gilbert was trending in the right direction this week, having practiced Thursday. The team expects him to be ready to play on Saturday. Jones played on Tuesday at Oklahoma State but was apparently not quite at 100%.

Iowa State’s personnel developments are key to any handicap of a big game against Arizona. If Jones and Gilbert are back in the lineup and Iowa State is playing its best starting five, a night game at Hilton Coliseum is a pretty good spot to jump into the market with expectations of a bounceback performance. 

Arizona vs. Iowa State Prediction

I am predicting an Iowa State win on Saturday, but 6.5 is pretty rich in the point spread market. 

I’m targeting Iowa State as a leg in moneyline parlays for Saturday, but at this buy point in the spread market, I’ll have a small position on Arizona +6.5.

Arizona vs. Iowa State Pick: Iowa State -275; Arizona +6.5