Richmond is saying the transfer portal be damned. The Spiders battled their way through a difficult Atlantic 10 Tournament field on the back of six senior graduate student players who were determined to bring Richmond back to the NCAA Tournament field for the first time in 11 years. Now that the Spiders fought their way in, sports betting guides show they will have to take on another unlikely conference champion.
Iowa went into the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 5 seed and battled its way to the conference crown for the first time since 2006. The Hawkeyes are appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the straight time it was held. Betting guides show the matchup between No. 5 and 12 seeds have been rife with upsets throughout the tournament’s history.
Last games records
Richmond won the Atlantic 10 title by beating Davidson 64-62 on March 13. The Spiders are 23-12. Iowa last beat Purdue 75-66 on March 13 to win the Big Ten crown. The Hawkeyes are 26-9.
Matchup Information
Richmond at Iowa Betting Analysis
Richmond Betting Analysis
When it comes to the Spiders’ veteran players, few personify the group like senior big man Grant Golden does. Golden is second on the team in scoring, contributing 14.1 points per game. His passing ability allows Richmond’s offense to run through him as well, as Golden contributes 2.82 assists and 6.1 rebounds per game.
Graduate student guard Jacob Gilyard is third on the team in scoring with 13.3 points per game and hands out 5.4 assists per game. Richmond junior forward Tyler Burton leads the team in scoring, contributing 16.3 points per game. The Spiders turned things around after a 2-4 start to the season.
Richmond knocks down 8.1 3-pointers per game and averages 71.7 points per game. The spiders also shoot 44.4 percent from the field. Richmond has struggled on the glass, being outrebounded by 3.2 rebounds per game.
Iowa Betting Analysis
Iowa’s offense is a powerful machine. The Hawkeyes rank fifth in the nation in scoring offense by scoring 83.3 points per game. However, Iowa isn’t the type of team to lock down on defense. The Hawkeyes also allow over 70 points per game and get dragged into a lot of slugfests.
Iowa has scored 100 or more points five times this season. Keegan Murray has been the engine driving the Hawkeyes’ offense, leading the team by averaging 23.6 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Jordan Bohannon (11.1 points per game) and Patrick McCaffery (10.3) also average in double figures scoring for Iowa.
The Hawkeyes knock down an average of 9.3 3-pointers per game and shoot treys at a 36.8 percent clip. Iowa has a turnover margin of +4.5. The Hawkeyes record 7.4 steals and 4.4 blocks per game. Iowa holds a slim edge in rebounding against its opponents this season, outrebounding their foes by 1.3 rebounds per game.
Team Updates
Neither Iowa nor Richmond has any injuries of note.
- Richmond is 16-18-1 against the spread.
- Iowa is 17-10-1 against the spread.
- The Spiders have seen 15 of their 35 games go under the total.
- The Hawkeyes have seen the over go 22-12-1 in their games this season.
- Richmond is 9-12 against the spread following a win.
- Iowa is 15-9 against the spread following a win.
Richmond at Iowa Betting Preview
March Madness betting odds have the Hawkeyes as 10.5-point favorites. Iowa is -640 on the moneyline, while Richmond is +410. The over/under was set at 151 points.
Richmond at Iowa Betting Prediction
March Madness bets don’t put any emphasis on what makes for a good storyline. The Spiders are a large underdog to an Iowa team that will try to run the Spiders out of the gym. Even with all of Richmond’s experience, they would struggle to play catch up against a potent Iowa offense.
However, with Golden and Gilyard’s passing ability, it is difficult to see Iowa keeping Richmond down totally. The Hawkeyes will win this one comfortably, but will have difficulty covering the spread. Richmond has too many veteran players to get run off the court and the emotions coming off an A-10 tournament win will help carry the Spiders to cover the spread.
Bet Richmond +10.5.
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