Who’s playing
New Orleans Privateers @ Iowa Hawkeyes
Current records: New Orleans 2-6, Iowa 7-3
How to watch
What you need to know
If the bettors’ predictions hold true, the near future looks bright for Iowa. They will be home for the holidays to host the New Orleans Privateers on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes strut with some offensive power as they have averaged 85.5 points per game this season.
Iowa heads into Sunday’s game hungry for a win as its strong season has now been derailed by two straight losses. They fell 89-80 to Iowa State on Thursday. The Hawkeyes led 39-26 in the first half, but were unable to maintain the lead.
Iowa’s loss came despite a quality game from Owen Freeman, who went 5 of 8 on his way to 16 points plus five rebounds and three blocks. Freeman’s performance made up for a slower game against Michigan last Saturday. Another player who made the difference was Drew Thelwell, who scored ten points along with six rebounds and two steals.
Meanwhile, New Orleans suffered its closest defeat since February 3 last Saturday. They fell just to Nicholls by a score of 73-70. The Privateers haven’t had much luck with the Colonels recently, as the team has come up short in their last two meetings.
Iowa’s loss ended a seven-game home winning streak dating back to last season and dropped them to 7-3. As for New Orleans, their loss dropped their record to 2-6.
This competition promises to be an explosion: Iowa has been incredibly precise this season, having made 48.6% of its field goals per game. It’s a different story for New Orleans, as they’ve made just 39.5 percent of their field goals this season. Given Iowa’s considerable advantage in this area, New Orleans will need to find a way to close that gap.
Odds
Iowa is a heavy favorite with 31.5 points against New Orleans, according to the latest college basketball odds.
The punters were in perfect agreement with the betting community on this point, since the match opened with a gap of 31.5 points and stayed there.
Oddsmakers are expecting fireworks from the offense and have pegged the over/under at a high of 163.5 points.
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