Tennessee vs. Iowa State bold predictions for March Madness Sweet 16 clash

The Midwest Region will meet for its Sweet 16 March Madness matchups from the United Center in Chicago as fans will be treated to another day of evenly-matched showdowns. The No. 6 Tennessee Volunteers will take on the No. 2 Iowa State Cyclones in the final game of the Sweet 16 with everything on the line.

Tennessee Basketball took down No. 11 Miami (OH) 78-56 in the first round and followed it up with a 79-72 win over No. 3 Virginia in their last outing. They hope to return to their second-straight Elite 8 as the second-highest seed remaining in the NCAA Tournament.

Iowa State Basketball beat No. 15 Tennessee State 108-74 and took down No. 7 Kentucky 82-63 in convincing fashion during the second round. They’re looking like a real contender and have a chance for their first Elite 8 berth since 2000, so expect the pressure to be at an all-time high for the Cyclones.

Ahead of the No. 6 vs. No. 2 matchup, we’ll make some bold predictions as to how the Sweet 16 clash may play out.

Tennessee vs. Iowa State – Sweet 16

Both teams are deadlocked at halftime.

Despite their wins, both teams struggled against their Round of 32 opponents as both Virginia and Kentucky played both teams hard on defense in the first half. Both Tennessee and Iowa State’s offenses have shown a propensity to heat up later in the game while focusing on defense in the first half, so we could have a defensive struggle similar to what we saw during the first half of Houston vs. Illinois.

The Volunteers are the much better rebounding team throughout the tournament (42.5 RPG to Iowa State’s 35.5 RPG), but the Cyclones have been much hotter from the field (48.6%) and from three (38.1%). It wouldn’t at all be surprising if we see another low-scoring game hovering in the 30-point range as both teams make adjustments in the second half.

Turnovers decide this game.

Both teams are averaging exactly 16.9 assists per game through the tournament and while Iowa State is the better shooting team from the field, the Volunteers are certainly talented inside and are willing to pound the ball in the paint early. Both teams heavily rely on their three-point shots and have been hot throughout this tournament, so these two sides actually have more in common than their differences.

Iowa State is also the more disciplined defensive team with fewer personal fouls, but that could change against a Tennessee team that loves to force the ball inside if they’re not pulling up from three.

The Vols are averaging 3.7 blocks per game while the Cyclones are averaging 9.1 steals per game. They’re very close in their turnover numbers through the first two games (Tenn 11.6, ISU 10.3), so this game could be decided by whichever team takes care of the basketball through all four quarters and limits mental mistakes.

Iowa State pulls away in the second half, wins big.

With Iowa State favored in this matchup by five points, they should be able to control Tennessee’s interior scoring by collapsing their defense as they’ve effectively done. The Cyclones are also very versatile in their scoring, favoring the mid-range and three-point shooting, but always finding open players around the rim with their unselfish brand of basketball.

While this game may be close during the first half, we’ve seen some of these other Sweet 16 games really open up in the second half with teams pulling away in the final score. Iowa State caught a hot shooting run during their last game and didn’t look back against Kentucky, so we can expect much of the same during this matchup against Tennessee.

Expect the Cyclones to cover the spread and continue dancing as they advance to their first Elite 8 since 2000.

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