March Madness : (4) Iowa State vs (1) Viriginia 3/25

• 25 March 2016

March Madness saw a stark level of correction by the higher seeds over the course of the week.  Thursday was witness to all favorite covers with the margin of victory being in double digits.  Routs were the order of the day but will it carry onto Friday.  Good Morning and welcome to HRWager.  Iowa State vs Virginia has that conflict of styles that handicappers pride themselves on getting correct with their prognostications.  Here, Virginia is a -5 point favorite in the tip off game at 7PM for Friday’s action.

March Madness : Pause for Concern

Most of us can glean the gameplan coming in but Virginia is in a pickle.  Does the #1 seed swarm the offensive glass or get back on defense to counter the quick shooting Cyclones?  Georges Niang is a problem matchup for the Cavs.  This Iowa State team is one of the closer incarnations to the Warriors NBA style of space and shooting.  Two Big 12 teams have already advanced convincingly yesterday.  Last losses for the Cyclones were against the very same Sooners and Jayhawks.  ISU has a tendency to run themselves out of the building but most of their losses cam because their opposition had one trait.

Virginia : Can They Score Enough?

Better team can usually control the tempo but this will not be the case tonight.  So they will have to react.  Against Butler, the Cavs were getting outmuscled so they went smaller and made it a shootout.  This lead to the win and the very admirable trait of troubleshooting at the half.  There will be trouble if they attempt to do that.  Anthony Gill is one of the better players in the country and under rated.  He will get a double double here for certain.  Good role player for the NBA but he will not light it up against Iowa State.

Crux of the matter is that the higher seeds dominated the action on Thursday but change is in the air.  Pro level has seen the space and shoot system work very well.  Iowa State does this well.  They lose against talented teams that can keep up the scoring pace.  Virginia adapted against Butler but the Bulldogs were a plodding team.  This is trying to hold back the storm once the clouds have already rolled in.  +5 is a bonus here as this is the spread you get on the Cyclones.  HRWager’s Free Pick of the Day is Iowa State plus the points.  Good fortune and we will see you later today here at the HRW.