The Miami Hurricanes take on the Iowa Cyclones in the sweet sixteen for a 10pm ET tip. Both teams have had to beat solid opponents to make it this far in the tournament, given that they are both double digit seeds. Miami just punished a tournament favorite Auburn team, 79-61. Iowa St had to beat LSU and Wisconsin to gain some respect as a contender in this tournament!
@SidekicksPicks March Madness Play of the Day - 3/25

Miami (25-10) vs Iowa St (22-12)
Miami Analysis
Miami has been an explosive offensive team this season! They are capable of scoring from behind the arc, in the paint, and can hurt you from the charity stripe. This is a well rounded offensive attack. They have won 7 of their last 10 games and have proven they can beat top tiered teams. They score 74.9 ppg (83), shoot 47.7% from the floor (28), and 35.3% from 3 (99). Defense isn’t their strong suit.
They will need to lock down Iowa St, rebound, and take care of the basketball to win this one!
Iowa St Analysis
Iowa St has been a surprise of the tournament. They ended their regular season with 3 straight losses and were a middle of the pack Big 12 team. Iowa St has one of the best defenses in the country, but are horrendous on the offensive side. In their last 2 games they have scored 54 and 59 points. There have been games where they’ve only scored 36 points. If Miami gets hot, I don’t see how Iowa St can keep up. They will need to continue to rely on their defense and out rebound the Hurricanes to have a shot!
Betting Trends
- Miami is 4-0-1 ats in their last 5 Friday games
- Miami is 3-0-1 ats in their last 4 games vs a team with a winning percentage above .600
- Miami is 5-1 ats in their last 6 games
- Iowa St is 6-3 ats in their last 9 games
- Iowa St is 5-1 ats in their last 6 games as an underdog
Sidekick's Verdict
I think Miami will be able to find mismatches in tonight’s game and exploit them. They are capable of scoring in multiple ways and could give this Iowa St defense some fits. They have excellent guard play that shares the basketball extremely well. Miami will need to control the glass and make Iowa St take tough shots. I think Miami is the more well rounded team and we should see them advancing to the Elite 8.
Play of the Day
