Hilton Coliseum - Ames, IA
Tip-off: Monday, 9:00 p.m. ET
Line: Iowa State -1.5, Total: 167

No. 1 Oklahoma seeks a fourth straight victory on Monday night when it visits a hungry No. 19 Iowa State team.

The top-ranked Sooners (7-7 ATS) have lost just once all season, in triple overtime at Kansas on Jan. 4, but that was the only time they covered the spread since late December, going 1-6 ATS over the past seven contests. They are coming off a pair of 2-point wins, first at 8.5-point underdog Oklahoma State on Wednesday, then at home versus West Virginia on Saturday. The Cyclones (7-6 ATS) snapped a two-game losing skid (and three-game ATS drought) with a 76-63 blowout at Kansas State on Saturday. These schools opened Big 12 play against one another on Jan. 2, when Oklahoma outlasted Iowa State 87-83 in Norman despite getting outshot 52% FG to 43% FG. That gave the home team eight straight wins in this series (6-2 ATS) with the most recent road win occurring back on Feb. 4, 2012. The meetings have also been close, with six of the past seven matchups decided by seven points or less. Most of the betting trends for Monday point to the home team again, as Cyclones are 24-4 ATS as a home favorite of 3 points or less (or pick) since 1997, and 20-8 ATS after playing Under the total in the past three seasons. But they also fall into the category of home teams going 4-22 ATS (15%) since 1997 where the line is +3 to -3, revenging a loss when an opponent scored 85+ points against an opponent with two straight tight conference wins (by 5 points or less). Sooners coach Lon Kruger is also 25-10 ATS on the road since 1997 when the line is +3 to -3. Neither team has any significant injuries to contend with.

Can Oklahoma sweep the season series from Iowa State? For the answer, connect to The Platinum Sheet for all the StatFox Experts Best Bets throughout the season. StatFox Brian has a stellar 68% ATS mark (17-8) in the past five weeks and has a 66% ATS mark (23-12) over the past seven weeks. StatFox Gary is catching fire with a 67% ATS (10-5) record over the past three weeks, and StatFox Scott is 62% ATS (8-5-2) in this same timeframe.

Oklahoma averages a hefty 86.3 PPG (4th in D-I) on 47.1% FG (49th in nation), and drains an impressive 45.0% threes, which leads D-I. The Sooners also crash the boards with ferocity, as they lead the nation in defensive rebounds (32.0 per game) and hold a commanding +6.7 RPG margin (32nd in D-I). Although the defense allows a pedestrian 70.9 PPG (169th in nation), it does so on low shooting rates of 38.6% FG (18th in D-I) and 30.6% threes (28th in nation). Although Oklahoma is tough in the paint with 5.9 blocks per game (10th in D-I), the school forces only 11.7 turnovers per contest (289th in nation). The Sooners offense revolves around superstar G Buddy Hield, who is averaging 26.0 PPG (2nd in nation) with 5.6 RPG, 2.4 APG and 1.4 SPG. He shoots an eye-popping 52% threes (4th in D-I) and 90.4% FT (7th in nation), which is why he has scored at least a dozen points in all 16 games, and 20+ points in 12 of those contests. The senior has netted at least 16 points in six straight meetings with the Cyclones (22.2 PPG), including 22 points earlier this month. Amazingly, Hield is not even the best long-range shooter on his team, as G Jordan Woodard (15.2 PPG, 3.7 APG, 3.6 RPG, 1.7 SPG) is making 56% threes (2nd in D-I) and 84% FT, which ranks fifth-best in the Big 12 Conference. Woodard had 14 points and seven assists in the Jan. 2 win over ISU, and has a strong 20 points, nine assists and only one turnover in two career trips to Ames. The other two main scorers for the Sooners are G Isaiah Cousins (11.9 PPG, 4.4 APG, 4.3 RPG, 1.3 SPG) and F Ryan Spangler (11.1 PPG, 10.6 RPG, 2.1 APG). Cousins has 11 games of 10+ points this season, but has been in a major shooting funk since Christmas where he has made only 25% FG (17-of-68) and 5-of-25 threes (20%) in the past six games. But his best effort during this stretch was versus the Cyclones when he scored 15 points on 5-of-14 FG (3-of-6 threes), giving him six straight games of 12+ points (15.0 PPG) in this series. Spangler racked up his seventh double-doubles of his senior season on Saturday with 10 points and 14 rebounds against West Virginia. Although Spangler is making a career-best 39% threes, he is also shooting a weak 64% from the foul line. Even though Spangler is best remembered for his missed lay-up at the buzzer in last season's two-point loss to Iowa State in the Big 12 semifinals, he has otherwise been a beast in this series with 12.3 PPG and 11.3 RPG in six career meetings. Spangler's best game versus the Cyclones came earlier this month when he tallied 20 points and 12 rebounds.

Iowa State is also an explosive offensive squad with 85.2 PPG (9th in nation) on a blistering 50.3% FG (6th in D-I) and solid 35.8% threes (122nd in nation). This is an average foul-shooting team at 69.6% FT (174th in D-I) that rarely gets to the line with a mere 276 free-throw attempts (331st in nation). However, the team has a stellar 1.6 Ast/TO ratio (16th in D-I) because it usually makes the extra pass (16.9 APG, 27th in nation) and rarely turns the ball over (10.7 TOPG, 21st in D-I). Iowa State does not have a very tough defense, allowing 74.3 PPG (238th in nation) on 43.0% FG (175th in D-I) and 34.7% threes (216th in nation), but it stays out of foul trouble with only 14.8 fouls per game (2nd-fewest in D-I). The team is strong on the defensive glass (28.6 Def. RPG, 28th in nation), but grabs only 9.9 offensive RPG (251st in D-I). Two upperclassmen carry this program, senior F Georges Niang (19.6 PPG, 2nd in Big 12) and junior PG Monte Morris, whose stellar 4.8 Ast/TO ratio ranks fifth in the nation. The burly 6-foot-8 Niang rarely takes a bad shot, as evidenced by his 54% FG, 39% threes and 84% FT this season. He also grabs 6.6 RPG and dishes out 3.2 APG, and has a current streak of 26 straight double-figure scoring games dating to last season. Niang was outstanding in Norman on Jan. 2 when he lit up Oklahoma for 29 points (13-of-18 FG) and eight boards. In the past two home games against the Sooners, Niang has 50 points on 18-of-30 FG (60%) and 5-of-10 threes. Morris has a career-high 14.7 PPG and 4.1 RPG this season, while ranking seventh in the nation in assists (7.1 APG) and 16th in steals (2.24 SPG). He has committed more than three turnovers just once in 87 career games (4 TO last season at Kansas), and in his two career home games versus Oklahoma, he has 31 points (5-of-6 threes), but just six assists and five turnovers. Senior F/C Jameel McKay (13.8 PPG, 9.0 RPG) has five double-doubles this season and nearly had a sixth when he finished with 10 points and nine rebounds versus the Sooners earlier this month. He is shooting 59% from the floor this season and has scored in double-figures in 10 of the past 12 contests. Junior G Matt Thomas (9.6 PPG, 4.8 RPG) is the school's best long-range shooter with 2.3 made threes per game on a healthy 41% clip. Since scoring just nine points on just 3-of-11 FG versus Oklahoma on Jan. 2, Thomas has averaged 12.5 PPG on 46% FG in his past four contests. Senior F Abdel Nader (12.5 PPG, 5.8 RPG) is a great rebounder with 9.0 RPG over his past three contests, which includes 16 boards at Texas last Tuesday. He'll need to contribute more than his measly four points and five rebounds in 34 minutes versus the Sooners two weeks ago to avoid the season series sweep.