Two 5-0 teams, the Ole Miss Rebels and the Iowa Hawkeyes, will face off tonight in the first round of the Acrisure Classic in Palm Springs, California. This is the third matchup between the two teams, with Iowa holding a 2-0 series lead, but the Rebels beat the Hawkeyes 91-78 in the previous game last season.
On DraftKings Sportsbook, Iowa is a -4.5-point favorite with Ole Miss being a +164 to win this game. Here is my best bet for tonight’s matchup between Ole Miss and Iowa.
Ole Miss vs. Iowa (9:30 p.m. ET)
Ole Miss Head Coach Chris Beard added 11 new players this offseason, with six four-star transfers. Freshman Ilias Kamardine is leading the Rebls in scoring with 15.8 points per game. AJ Storr, the well-traveled veteran, is now with Ole Miss after stints with St. John’s, Wisconsin, and Kansas. Storr and Malik Dia are both recording 14.4 points per contest. Ole Miss averages only 82.2 points per game, which is tied for 123rd in the country, with only three double-digit scorers.
Iowa has three players who average double digits, led by Bennett Stirtz (17.6), one of the best guards in the country. Stirtz came to Iowa with Ben McCollum from Drake. Alvaro FolgueirasĀ and Tavion BanksĀ are Iowa’s other two players averaging at least 10 points. According to KenPom, Iowa ranks 16th in offensive rating this season. Iowa has three games this season with at least 93 points and has won all five of its games by 19-plus points.
Through their first five games of the season, Ole Miss has struggled offensively while playing an easy schedule. With Ole Miss only scoring 82 and 72 points in their previous two contests, it seems like the Rebls could struggle to keep up with Iowa offensively in this matchup. Iowa beat Xavier by 19 points in their only matchup against another team from a major conference. You can get Iowa to cover the -4.5 spread at -105 on DraftKings Sportsbook.
