Betsided

Richmond vs. Iowa Prediction and Odds for NCAA Men's Tournament First Round

By Ben Heisler

The Iowa Hawkeyes dominated the Big Ten Tournament as a 5-seed and now are a 5-seed in the NCAA Tournament against the 12-seed Richmond Spiders
The Iowa Hawkeyes dominated the Big Ten Tournament as a 5-seed and now are a 5-seed in the NCAA Tournament against the 12-seed Richmond Spiders / Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
facebooktwitterreddit

The 12-seeded Richmond Spiders, fresh off their stunning victory over the Davidson Wildcats in the A-10 conference tournament await the 5-seed Iowa Hawkeyes on Thursday. Iowa, who after banking in the game-winner against Indiana in the semi-finals of the Big Ten Tournament, steamrolled the Purdue Boilermakers late on Sunday to capture the Big Ten bid.

The first of the deadly 12-5 matchups gets going at 3:10 p.m. ET from Buffalo on Thursday, March 17.

Here are the odds for the matchup via WynnBET Sportsbook.

Richmond vs. Iowa Odds, Spread and Total

Spread:

  • Richmond +9 (-110)
  • Iowa -9 (-110)

Moneyline:

  • Richmond +325
  • Iowa -425

Total:

  • 151.5 (Over: -110/Under: -110)

Richmond vs. Iowa Analysis

Richmond Spiders

  • Overall Record: 23-12
  • ATS Record: 16-18-1
  • Over/Under Record: 15-20-1
  • SOS: 95th
  • Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 109.1 (68)
  • Defensive Efficiency: 99.3 (104)
  • eFG%: 51.5% (105)
  • FT%: 72.5% (151)
  • 3PT%: 33.7% (175)
  • Last Year’s Tournament Result: N/A
  • Odds to win National Championship: Field +3000

Iowa Hawkeyes

  • Overall Record: 25-9
  • ATS Record: 21-13
  • Over/Under Record: 22-11-1
  • SOS: 19th
  • Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 121.5 (2)
  • Defensive Efficiency: 98.0 (77)
  • eFG%: 53.7% (33)
  • FT%: 75.2% (68)
  • 3PT%: 37.1% (35)
  • Last Year’s Tournament Result: Round of 32 (Lost to Oregon)
  • Odds to win National Championship: +5000

Richmond vs. Iowa Prediction and Pick

Both of these teams come in as somewhat surprising winners of their conference tournaments.

Richmond, perhaps the most surprising of them all, ended up putting a team in their own conference, the Dayton Flyers out of the NCAA Tournament with their A-10 championship victory over No. 1 Davidson earlier on Sunday as a 6-seed. As for Iowa, the Hawkeyes have played their best basketball at the end of the season, culminating with a victory over No. 3 Purdue in the Big Ten Championship as a 5-seed.

If the Hawkeyes catch fire early on, it's "goodnight nurse" for the Spiders, but this is a veteran squad that gelled together at the end of the season to get into the dance. Part of that success came on the defensive end, where they rank in the 88th percentile over their last five games with a defensive rating of 96.7.

The overall offensive efficiency numbers for both these teams are deceiving, but this smells like a slow-it-down paced game that will give Richmond a chance to hang around. That can make the Hawkeyes uncomfortable, and will need to lean on star sophomore Keegan Murray to perhaps bail them out late.

LEAN: UNDER 151.5

Follow BetSided's March Madness hub throughout the entirety of the NCAA men's and women's tournaments for full betting previews and picks for every game, updated betting odds futures for the Final Four and national championship, insights, trends, videos, podcasts and more!

Follow all of Ben Heisler's betting plays in real-time HERE.

Home/March Madness