Henry Roldán
One of the most evenly matched games of this March Madness first round is the one we will have this coming Thursday in the Midwest: Auburn vs Iowa.
The Tigers finished seventh in the SEC Conference and are not in good shape, having lost seven of their last 10 games. The Hawkeyes also finished seventh in the Big Ten and closed with two straight losses, including the last one against Ohio State in the conference tournament.
Without further ado, at JefeBet we bring you the Auburn Tigers vs Iowa Hawkeyes predictions and all the March Madness 2023 first round matchup odds.
Picks and Predictions for the Auburn Tigers vs Iowa Hawkeyes NCAA Basketball Championship Round 1 Game on March 16 2023
- Where: Legacy Arena – Birmingham, Alabama
- When: Thursday, March 16, 2023, 12:00 PM E.T.
Auburn Tigers Betting Preview
- Overall Record: 20-12
- Conference Record: 10-8
The Tigers showed good arguments at the beginning of the season. But as the calendar went by, several problems, especially on offense, caused the team to have a negative closing of the campaign.
Auburn’s strength is defensive play, the same defense that finished sixth in the nation in stopping the long-distance offense by allowing 28.8% to its opponents. They finished in the top 100 teams in the circuit by allowing 66.8 points per game and were 22nd in field goal shooting with 40.3%.
The problem is that this performance does not seem to be good enough to cover up the offensive shortcomings. Despite averaging 72.7 points per game, four of their last 10 games have been below the 70-point mark, and they have averaged just 43.9% shooting from the field overall.
A clear example of that sluggish offense is that no Auburn player averaged close to 20 points per game this season. Their top scorer was Johni Broome, who also led the team in rebounds with 14.0 and 8.4 respectively.
Iowa Hawkeyes Betting Preview
- Overall Record: 19-13
- Conference Record: 11-9
The Hawkeyes put an end to their regular round schedule a little more solidly than the Tigers. But still, they failed to advance past the first round in the Big Ten Championship by falling 69-73 to Ohio State.
Iowa is hoping its offense can overcome Auburn’s good defense to advance to the second round of March Madness after being eliminated in the first round of the championship in the previous edition.
While the Hawkeyes did not finish among the league’s top 100 in field and long-range shooting percentage, their ability to grab rebounds and second chances got them an average of 80.6 points per game, the 20th-best mark in the nation.
Such performance is more than necessary considering that they do not have a very solid defense at their disposal. In seven of their last 10 games, opponents scored more than 70 points and overall conceded 47.4% shooting from the field.
Their best man on offense is Kris Murray, who led the team in minutes per game (34.8), points per game (20.4), rebounds per contest (7.9), and blocks (1.2).
JefeBet Prediction
The parity shown by the lines in Las Vegas for this matchup tells us how difficult it will be to get a winner in this first round of the Midwest. Likewise, the points line seems to be a little low for what these teams have shown this season and in recent games.
The Tigers’ offense has been inconsistent on the season, but their defense, the weapon for this game, is not at its best and in the last game they allowed 56% shooting to the Razorbacks. On the Hawkeyes’ side, defense is their weakness, while the offense could have a good day against a reeling Auburn team.
To that, we can add that four of the Tigers’ last five clashes ended with the Over, while seven of Iowa’s last eight NCAA championship games saw the Over on the scoreboard.
Prediction: Over (AUB 79 – IOW 76).
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