The TCU Horned Frogs take on the Iowa State Cyclones. Our college basketball odds series has our TCU Iowa State prediction and pick. Find out how to watch TCU Iowa State.
This game is a lot like other recent games TCU has played: It is unavoidably affected by the Horned Frogs' injury situation. Top guard Mike Miles and top big man Eddie Lampkin have missed several recent games. The Frogs have enough depth to be competitive, but those two star players mean a lot to TCU. The Frogs are good enough to come close against other quality Big 12 teams, but they're not good enough to consistently win without Miles and Lampkin. They can win occasionally, but it's really hard to string together wins the way this team had been doing when it had a fundamentally healthy lineup with the best players on the floor.
The injury report in the hours before tipoff in Hilton Coliseum is that Miles and Lampkin won't play in this game. The Horned Frogs will once again be shorthanded, creating an uphill battle for them.
Here are the TCU-Iowa State college basketball odds, courtesy of FanDuel:
College Basketball Odds: TCU-Iowa State Odds
TCU Horned Frogs: +4.5 (-104)
Iowa State Cyclones: -4.5 (-118)
Over: 134.5 (-110)
Under: 134.5 (-110)
How To Watch TCU vs. Iowa State
TV: ESPNU
Stream: ESPN+
Time: 9:00 p.m. ET, 6:00 p.m. PT
*Watch TCU-Iowa State LIVE with fuboTV (Click for free trial)*
Why TCU Could Cover The Spread
The Horned Frogs led Baylor for a large portion of this past Saturday's game before faltering late. TCU is coming close to winning games even with Miles and Lampkin out. The Horned Frogs just need to make a handful of extra plays to win games and cover spreads. The margin is small between TCU winning and losing, between covering and not covering. TCU had one game in which it was blown out by Kansas State without Miles and Lampkin, but in most games, TCU is playing good teams close and tough.
The other key point to make is that Iowa State might be hitting a wall. The Cyclones did not look like a good team in losing to Oklahoma State this past Saturday. ISU has overachieved to this point in the season, and in mid-February, overachieving teams often hit a wall. We really could be seeing some erosion and slippage with Iowa State, which might be the best reason to pick TCU.
Why Iowa State Could Cover The Spread
The Cyclones are going to be mad, focused, energetic, and hungry after losing to Oklahoma State. ISU players said that wasn't the team they had seen or known for most of the season. The Cyclones weren't themselves. They did miss a ton of free throws to contribute to their loss. One should expect a bounce-back performance in which Iowa State does the little things well again and restores its expected standard of performance. Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger has done a terrific job with this team. Expect him to be better. Expect the Cyclones to be better against a shorthanded TCU team which is not merely missing one key player, but multiple key players. That matters.
Final TCU-Iowa State Prediction & Pick
Iowa State is playing at home, coming off a loss and a bad peformance against a shorthanded TCU team. That might seem like an obvious indication to take Iowa State, but Big 12 games are so tough and contentious that staying away from this game is probably the better play.
Final TCU-Iowa State Prediction & Pick: Iowa State -4.5
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