The NBA doesn’t return from the All-Star break until Thursday, but there’s plenty of hoops to watch in the meantime with a loaded college basketball slate on Tuesday. Tonight, the No. 9 Nebraska Cornhuskers try to regain some momentum after a recent hot-and-cold stretch with a matchup against the Iowa Hawkeyes in Big Ten play. Can this team find its form once more?
Here’s a prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for Nebraska vs. Iowa on Tuesday, February 17.
Nebraska vs. Iowa prediction, preview
Nebraska Cornhuskers
The Cornhuskers started the campaign on a significant hot streak with 20 consecutive wins, but have now hit some bumps in the road. Since January 27, they’ve now suffered all three of their losses over the last five games and hold a 22-3 record on the year. Unfortunately, all three of those came in Big Ten play as well, dropping them to 11-3 in conference play too. Still, they’re 5-3 in Quad 1 play and unbeaten across Quad 2-4.
Nebraska sits 11th in the KenPom rankings with a +28.22 NETRTG. The team’s identity revolves around a standout defense allowing just 66.0 PPG, 16th-fewest in the nation with the eighth-best DRTG. The Cornhuskers are 196th in adjusted tempo, so controlling the pace of play certainly helps. They’re still talented on offense though, posting 79.4 PPG with the 41st-ranked ORTG. They shoot 47.1% from the field and 36.0% from three, ranking top-14 in both 3PA and 3PM as a perimeter deluge typically fuels the attack. Ball movement is the name of the game to getting open shots, with the team dishing 18.4 assists a night (11th) with a 1.95 AST/TO ratio (third-best). While they’re average on the boards with 35.6 per game, that certainly doesn’t hold them back.
Iowa Hawkeyes
Meanwhile, Iowa holds an 18-7 record on the campaign with an 8-6 mark in conference play. Without an NCAA Tournament berth since 2022-23, the program went a different direction from longtime coach Fran McCaffrey and brought in Ben McCollum this season to lead the group. The results could be better, but they’re far from bad. While the Hawkeyes are 2-5 against Quad 1 squads, they’re 5-1 vs. Quad 2 opponents.
Iowa sits 25th in the KenPom rankings with a +22.33 NETRTG. The unit falls top-40 in both ORTG and DRTG, and they drag opponents into the mud at 350th in adjusted tempo. The Hawkeyes limit opponents to only 64.9 PPG, the ninth-fewest in the nation. They are notably pulling down just 29.9 rebounds per contest, but they do create 13.6 opponent turnovers (51st) to make up for those lost possessions. As for the offense, Iowa posts 77.0 PPG with 15.6 assists and a 1.63 AST/TO ratio (24th). The Hawkeyes also shoot the ball quite well overall with a 50.1% FG% (17th) and a 36.8% 3P% (41st). They just have a very low volume of shot attempts, but that’s part of the game plan to slow things down.
Nebraska vs. Iowa pick, best bet
DraftKings Sportsbook lists Iowa as a 1.5-point favorite at home tonight with -115 odds to win on the Moneyline. Nebraska’s odds of an outright win come in at -105 with the game total set at 139.5.
There’s no better bet on the board tonight than under 139.5 combined points in this contest. As mentioned in the above section, the Cornhuskers are 196th in adjusted tempo while the Hawkeyes are 350th. With a sluggish pace of play on both sides, and Iowa’s in particular, projecting a higher-scoring game just doesn’t feel right.
For Nebraska, the over is just 8-17 on the campaign thus far. For Iowa, it’s 15-10 in regard to the over. The latter comes as a result of the program’s tendency to lean on defense, but this is an ideal matchup for the total to go under. These two teams will both look to dictate the pace, and it’s tough not to believe in the Hawkeyes’ ability to slow things down to a crawl. I’d much rather target the under than any winner or spread bet, especially with that line at just 1.5 points on either side.
