Iowa vs Iowa State: 2024-25 college basketball game preview, TV schedule

The Iowa Hawkeyes and Iowa State Cyclones renew their in-state rivalry when they take the court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Thursday night.

Thursday, December 12th, 7:30 pm ET. FS1

Location: Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, IA

The No. 3 Iowa State Cyclones should be easily favored when they face off against the Iowa Hawkeyes on Thursday night, even with the game being on the latter's home court. But those familiar with the Cy-Hawk rivalry know the records need to be thrown out when predicting what will happen.

Iowa State hasn't been ranked in the top three of the country in decades, nay, generations. The last time the Cyclones were ranked in the top three was during the 1956-1957 season. Safe to say none of the current players remember that campaign.

T.J. Otzelberger's squad has looked dominant, losing only one game, to Auburn. Granted, much of the competition has been overmatched to this point, with the exception of the Tigers and Marquette, who Iowa State beat a week ago by 11 points. The Cyclones were last seen blowing the doors off Jackson State, hitting 100 points for the first time this year.

Most of Iowa's victories this season have been of the same comfortable, overmatched opponent persuasion. The team does have two losses, to Michigan and less positive, Utah State. They have the look of ateam on the fringe of the NCAA Tournament bubble, a place the Hawkeyes can expect to stay for much of the year.

An interesting note: despite it being mid-December, this is the first true road game of the year for the Cyclones (though one could argue the word "road" is doing a lot of work there). Iowa has played six games at home this season, unblemished through them all.

Iowa has an underrated, dangerous one-two punch in sophomore Owen Freeman and Payton Sandfort, both of whom are averaging at least 16 points per game. Double-digit scoring averages also belong to Josh Dix and Pyrce Sandfort.

They also have a free throw problem and a serious weakness when it comes to interior defense; opponents are hitting 56.7 percent of their shots in the arc, not only one of the worst marks in the Big Ten, but one of the worst in the country. That's something the likes of Joshua Jefferson, Dishon Jackson, and Keshon Gilbert can exploit.

In Ames, Iowa State crushed the Hawkeyes a year ago, beating them by 25 points. Iowa comfortably owns the all-time edge, though, and the teams have managed to split the last ten meetings down the middle.

The games between the rivals don't tend to be particularly close, at least in recent memory. The last time a team won by only single digits? 2017.

The fact that this game is at Carver-Hawkeye gives the Hawkeyes a chance to be competitve. But this is an elite Iowa State squad and an Iowa team that lacks the top-level talent to match their rival, even on the best of nights.

Prediction: Iowa State 87, Iowa 73