CBS Sports gives early Sweet 16 pick, prediction for Iowa vs. Nebraska
· Yahoo Sports
With the dust settling from the Iowa Hawkeyes' exhilarating win over the Florida Gators on the shoulders of Alvaro Folgueiras, hitting a late three-point shot, the page has to quickly turn to the Sweet 16. Iowa is making its first trip back since 1999, and the matchup couldn't get any more fun.
In Houston, the Iowa Hawkeyes will meet up with the Nebraska Cornhuskers for the third time this year, with a trip to the Elite 8 up for grabs. With tip-off rapidly approaching, CBS Sports dove into the matchup and gave an early prediction and pick.
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These teams have played twice. Iowa won at home in a 57-52 rockfight. Nebraska returned the favor by winning at home, 84-75 in overtime, in another to-the-death brawl.
There are no secrets in the rubber match. Nebraska's no-middle defense has given Iowa real problems both times. The Hawkeyes turned it over 20% of the time in Game 1 and 26% of the time in Game 2. That can't happen in Round 3.
Iowa has the best player on the floor in Bennett Stirtz and can hurt Nebraska on the glass, but the Huskers get the nod because of this pick-and-roll defense. You have to be able to guard ball screens effectively to shut down Iowa, and Nebraska has been an elite pick-and-roll defense, rating in the 99th percentile nationally, per Synergy.
The pick: Nebraska- Isaac Trotter, CBS Sports
With the opening odds putting this game nearly as a toss-up, it figures to be close throughout, just as the two regular-season meetings were. Iowa took down Nebraska 57-52 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, but saw Nebraska get its revenge in overtime over Iowa in the regular-season finale.
Tip-off for Iowa versus Nebraska is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, March 26, and will be airing on TBS and truTV.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire : CBS Sports gives early Sweet 16 pick, prediction for Iowa vs. Nebraska