The No. 6 Iowa State Cyclones managed to pull out a win against No. 2 Houston on Monday thanks to a late garbage-time free throw and a non-foul in the final minutes of the game, which they lost 73-65.
The Cyclones scored 8.5 points, and with 24.1 seconds left, Cyclones guard Dasonte Bowen made two free throws to make it an eight-point game.
Houston then inbounded the ball as the Cyclones defense swarmed into a full-court defense and trapped a player with the ball.
Even though it looked like a foul was coming, the Cougars made a good pass, getting the ball past half court, and the Cyclones decided to fall back with 14 seconds left.
The Iowa State cover was a win for regular bettors at BetMGM Sportsbook, with the Cyclones collecting 67% of the spread market handle.
Iowa State initially opened as a 9.5-point underdog, but fell to +8.5 by game time and covered both lines Monday night.
Michael Arinze of Post Action Betting recommended the over total for this match, with an opening value of 128.5 and a ending value of 133.5.
With 63% of the winnings going to the Over, the Over was the winner for Arinze and bettors who moved a total of 5 points. The total is now 138.
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But not everything was rosy, with the losing Cyclones taking 58% of the moneyline handle (+375 at the open, +340 at the close).
Fifty-eight percent of the handle is a majority, but it’s small compared to the 85 percent of tickets at Iowa State.
The fact that 15 percent of the tickets and 42 percent of the prize money went to the Cougars would theoretically indicate that a few smart people were placing bigger bets on the championship favorite.
