ESPN picks the best bet for the Iowa Hawkeyes versus West Virginia Mountaineers

Carver-Hawkeye Arena is primed up and ready to rock for the final home game of the 2023-24 season. Caitlin Clark is lacing them up for her final home game as a member of the Iowa Hawkeyes and the crowd is a sellout that will be on their feet.

When the No. 1 seed Iowa Hawkeyes tip things off against the No. 8 West Virginia Mountaineers in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament, a trip to the Sweet 16 will be on the line.

Iowa, who handled business against No. 16 Holy Cross 91-65, is favored in this one and right now they are 16.5 point favorites over the Mountaineers, who knocked off the No. 9 Princeton Tigers 63-53.

Ahead of the matchup, ESPN has offered their best bet to make on the game. There is a belief that Iowa comes out on top of this one, but the Mountaineers’ defense doesn’t let things get out of hand. ESPN went with West Virginia covering the 16.5-point spread.

West Virginia +16.5 vs. Iowa, 8 p.m. Iowa lines are getting inflated due to the Caitlin Clark factor. WVU’s pressure defense could keep the Mountaineers inside the number, especially in the 1st half. -Kraemer

West Virginia is stout defensively allowing just 57.6 points per games to opponents. They will have their work cut out for them against Iowa’s offense averaging 92.8 points per game, tops in the nation.

One area to keep an eye on is the three-point shooting by Iowa. Iowa leads America with 11.3 made threes per game and converts them at 37.96%. Iowa has the advantage here as the Mountaineers are just 109th in the country in three-point percentage defense allowing 29.% to fall.

If Iowa can get good looks up from three, they can push on that advantage all night long. With threes, long rebounds happen. Iowa has another advantage here as the Mountaineers average being out-rebounded by 2.3 rebounds per game this season whereas Iowa boasts a 7.6 rebound margin the right direction this year.

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