The 25-12 Iowa Hawkeyes from the Big Ten conference will meet the 22-14 Baylor Bears from the Big 12 conference in the NIT Tournament Championship Game from college basketball on Thursday night. Tip off time from Madison Square Garden in New York City is scheduled for 9PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by ESPN.
The college basketball odds from this NIT Tournament championship game has the Iowa Hawkeyes favored by -1 points with an over under line of 141 ½ points. There have been no recent meetings between these two teams.
Iowa has wins in the NIT Tournament at home early with wins against Indiana St and Stony Brook. They hit the road in the quarterfinal round and earned a 75-64 victory at Virginia Cavaliers as a +3 ½ point underdog. They come off the NIT semifinal round 71-60 victory against the Maryland Terrapins as a -3 point betting favorite. The game finished under 137 ½ points. The Hawkeyes shot 42.1% from the field and connected on 4 of 12 from three point distance. They held the Terrapins to 40.4% shooting and Iowa committed ten less turnovers than Maryland. Roy Devyn Marble led the Hawkeyes with 21 points and nine rebounds as he made 8 of his 16 shots. Iowa has defended very well this season ranking in the top 19 of college basketball in defensive field goal and three point shooting. The team gives up just 38.9% shooting with 29.5% coming from three.
Baylor in the NIT Tournament picked up home wins against Long Beach St, Arizona ST and Providence. In the NIT semifinals held at Madison Square Garden it was Baylor with the 76-70 victory against the BYU Cougars as a -3 ½ point betting favorite. The game finished under 155 points. The Bears shot 43.3% from the floor and made 5 of their 15 three pointers. They held the Cougars to 41.7% shooting and just 5 of 20 coming from three point land. Baylor had seven less rebounds and win with four less turnovers and better free throw shooting than BYU. Pierre Jackson led the Bears with 24 points and ten assists as he made 6 of his 14 shots. Baylor has been a good offense team this season ranking in the top third in the nation in scoring and field goal shooting by putting up 76 points a game and making 45.8% of their shots.
