by Chuck Sommers
Tuesday, Feb 21, 2023
Time: 9 p.m. ET
Venue: Moody Center, Austin, TX
Where to watch: Longhorn Network
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: Texas -7.5
FanDuel: Texas -7.5
BetMGM: Texas -7.5
Caesars: Texas -7.5
Season record
No. 23 Iowa State: 17-9 (8-6 Big 12)
No. 8 Texas: 21-6 (10-4 Big 12)
February is here and the college basketball season is taking full shape. Conference races still to be determined, the top 25 completely in shambles for what seems like every week, and there's bound to be an upset what seems like every single week. But as the season continues to progress with what seems like exciting action every week, you know our champion handicappers continue to put the work in each and every week to not only make money for them, but to ensure you get money in your pocket. All you need to do is look at the last 30 days. Scott Rickenbach has reeled in a net profit of $14,000 with a 24-9-0 run on the college hardwood. Team Del Genio has killed it with a 13-1-0 run at +$11,900. Will Rogers (28-15-0) and Matt Fargo (40-27-0) have also seen five figures over the last 30 days with college basketball. Surely, you want to get on this winning as well. All you need to do is go to bigal.com, check out our Best Bets page and make sure you are following along on the action. March will be here before you know it! Take advantage of our best plays and find out what our champion handicappers are doing at bigal.com!
Iowa State - Texas preview, prediction and analysis
The Texas Longhorns have not found a bit of consistency as of late, but they are in a position to still win the Big 12 if they can do it. It won’t be easy, but they have a chance to take down the No. 23 Iowa State Cyclones — a team that should absolutely go in the fraud category — in Austin on Tuesday.
The Longhorns have gotten some good wins as of late, but have struggled heavily in the losses. The latter? We’re looking at the loss to Kansas in Lawrence, and then the 74-67 loss to Texas Tech on the road. The wins were good, like winning 69-66 at Kansas State, and … well, a 34-point win ver West Virginia and an overtime win against Oklahoma doesn’t really say much, but at least they haven’t fallen far from Kansas atop the Big 12 standings.
Sir’Jabari Rice had a game-high 24 points — and who wouldn’t score that many points with that name — and made four 3-pointers, and Marcus Carr had 17 points to go with six rebounds and four assists to help pace the way for the Longhorns to escape a win over the last-place Sooners.
“We forced 18 turnovers, and we had 19 assists,” Texas coach Rodney Terry said, calling it "the difference in the game.”
Texas hasn’t looked great as of late, but the latest stretch of games has at least opened the door to either be co-champions or surpass the Jayhawks. The road is an uphill climb, but at the very least, they have a path to keep things rolling. Because they aren’t seemingly going to lose to Iowa State, are they?
The Cyclones have lost three of four and are coming off a 61-55 loss to Kansas State over the weekend. They seemed to turn things around with the win over TCU, which followed after losses to West Virginia and Oklahoma State (which followed the win over Kansas), but they have not looked good since beating Kansas.
Aljaz Kunc led the way with 15 points, but Iowa State shot an absolutely abysmal 30.6% from the floor and went only 5 of 27 from 3-point range. Sure, they outrebounded Kansas State 41-32, but it’s not like they have anything to feel good about if they don’t know how to throw a rock into an ocean.
“We just weren’t as intentional defensively, so I felt like it threw our game off balance,” Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “Credit to K-State for the job they did defensively, but it played a role in stretching us out more.”
An Otzelberger-coached team not intentional defensively? You don’t say. Of course I watched UNLV during that time and by god it was awful. But Iowa State isn’t fully out of things yet. They’re two games back of Kansas and Texas but are looking up at Baylor. A championship may be out of play.
Prediction
Texas should not be losing this game against a team that we can’t trust. Can’t trust them on the road and surely can’t trust them to do anything in this regard. Texas 78, Iowa State 62
Betting trends
Iowa State is 3-6 ATS as a road underdog this season.
Iowa State is 7-9 ATS after an under this season.
Iowa State is 18-22 ATS after a loss the last 3 seasons.
Texas is 3-10 ATS after failing to cover 2 of 3 this season.
Texas is 3-10 ATS off a home win this season.
Projected starting lineup
Iowa State:
PG: Tamin Lipsey
SG: Caleb Grill
SF: Gabe Kalscheur
PF: Jaren Holmes
C: Osun Osunniyi
Texas:
PG: Marcus Carr
SG: Tyrese Hunter
SF: Timmy Allen
PF: Dillon Mitchell
C: Dylan Disu
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Chuck Sommers
About the Author:
Chuck Sommers has camped outside of sportsbooks since he can remember, learning the tricks and nuances of the trade. He still has nightmares of betting $5,000 on the Raiders in the Tuck Rule game but has since turned that to 25 years of veteran handicapping greatness. You can find him mostly in the shadows at the Red Rock or Aliante casinos wondering if the over is cashing on any given Sunday.
