Matthew Holst/Getty Images. Pictured: Jordan Bohannon
#2 Iowa vs. #15 Grand Canyon Odds
| Projected Spread | -14 | |
| Projected Total | 141.26 | |
| Projected ML | -890 | |
| Time | TBA | |
| TV | TBA | |
| Projected odds based on our initial PRO Projections. Odds will be added once they’re released. | ||
How Iowa & Grand Canyon Match Up
| Iowa | vs. | Grand Canyon |
| 99 | Tempo | 314 |
| 28 | eFG% | 56 |
| 1 | TO% | 254 |
| 86 | OR% | 46 |
| 162 | FTR | 85 |
| 90 | DeFG% | 6 |
| 310 | DTO% | 301 |
| 206 | DR% | 15 |
| 10 | DFTR | 131 |
| All stats via KenPom. | ||
_BookPromo=1217
What To Know About Iowa
The Iowa offense is among the best in college basketball because it has a dominant big man in Luka Garza, along with one of the best 3-point shooting rates in the country. Garza is likely to be the National Player of the Year, and the big man is surrounded by players who can light it up from deep.
The Hawkeyes are in the top-five nationally in 3-point percentage, an attack led by guards Joe Wieskamp (48.9% 3-point shooting), Jordan Bohannon (39.7%) and CJ Fredrick (50%). The loss of Jack Nunge hurts a bit, but it appears that Fredrick and Wieskamp are fully healthy heading into the tournament, which makes this one of the best offenses in college basketball.
The biggest Iowa storyline over the past month has been a defensive resurgence, which is almost unheard of from this Hawkeyes program. They have skyrocketed up the defensive metric boards over the past month and are one spot outside of the top-50 in Kenpom’s Adjusted Defensive Efficiency. Iowa will mix it up quite a bit defensively with a press periodically and lots of zone looks, and the communication has been much better in both regards of late.
If the Hawkeyes can continue this recent defensive form into and throughout the tournament, this is a Final Four-caliber team. The defense doesn’t need to be elite: If they can just play at a top-50 level instead of a top-100 one, look out. — Matt Trebby
What To Know About Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon boasts a post-oriented, 2-point-shooting, slow-paced offense that features three players at 6-foot-10 or taller in the post. Two of those centers — Italian Alessandro Lever and Dane Asbjorn Midtgaard — actually lead the team in scoring at more than 14 points per game a piece.
However, for as strong as the post play is, the perimeter play is shaky with a group of guards that turn the ball over too much, struggle to defend the perimter and aren’t great shooters. The Antelopes rank 277th in college basketball at 31.5% shooting from 3-point range but are 17th inside the arc. They rank 130th in KenPom’s efficiency rankings, which is pretty good for a WAC school.
Grand Canyon presents a problem down low for any team, but its ability to beat a top-tier squad is limited due to its limitations on the perimeter. — Stuckey