I spent most of my Kansas-West Virginia preview extolling the virtues of West Virginia (and even Marquette) before giving whatever space was left over to Kansas, who won by 14 (on a 14 point spread, making bookies richer everywhere). That's actually probably a good thing for the Jayhawks; it shows how consistent they've been since starting the year with a few more losses than expected (even if they played one of the toughest non-conference schedules in recent memory). But what does it mean for WVU's opponent tonight #11 Iowa State (18-4, 6-4) at 7:00 pm EST on ESPNU?

The Cyclones are just getting out of a rough stretch of conference games WVU is currently in. Since Jan.7, they've faced ranked teams (at the time or currently) in seven of their last nine games, four of which have been losses. But they've won their last three, two over Oklahoma and Oklahoma State and the famous one over TCU, in which Melvin Ejim scored 48 points on 20-24 shooting while also adding 18 rebounds.

"All the great players that have gone through this league and Melvin Ejim's name is at the top," Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg told ESPN. "That's unbelievable for a guy that maybe doesn't get as much credit as he deserves.

On the season, the 6-foot-6 senior is averaging 19.8 ppg and 8.6 rpb on 53 percent shooting. Sports Illustrated recently did an article on late bloomers and named Villanova senior guard James Bell the headliner of this year's so called class of the recently developed. Ejim, who wasn't much better than a 10 ppg guy his first three years, has made his own case for the year's most improved player.

Surprisingly, the spread favors Iowa State by just a point and a half tonight. Maybe the odds makers read my last article, but it's going to be hard to pick against the Cyclones after the momentum they created last weekend.

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Record: 12-16

Butler @ Creighton: L (picked Butler, +10.5)

UConn @ Memphis: L (picked Memphis, -7.5)

Depaul @ Villanova: W (picked Villanova, -17.5)

Pittsburg @ Syracuse: L (picked Syracuse, -5.5)

Creighton @ Villanova: L (picked Villanova, -6.5)

Baylor @ Kansas: W (picked Baylor, + 10.5)

Indiana @ Michigan State: L (picked Michigan State, -12)

Iowa @ Michigan: L (picked Iowa, + 1.5)

Colorado @ Arizona: W (picked Colorado, + 14.5)

Illinois @ Ohio State: W (picked Illinois, + 11)

Michigan @ Michigan State: W (picked Michigan, + 4.5)

Villanova @ Marquette: W (picked Villanova, -3)

Utah @ Arizona: W (picked Utah, + 15)

Oklahoma @ Oklahoma State: W (picked Oklahoma, + 4.5)

Villanova @ Georgetown: L (picked Villanova, -6.5)

Michigan State @ Iowa: W (picked Michigan State, + 5)

St. John's @ Creighton: W (picked St. John's, + 12)

Iowa State @ Kansas: L (picked Iowa State, + 8.5)

Syracuse @ Wake Forest: L (picked Syracuse, -10)

Purdue @ Michigan: L (picked Michigan, -12)

Florida @ Mississippi State: W (picked Miss. State, + 15)

Duke @ Syracuse: L (picked Syracuse, -3)

Xavier @ Villanova: L (picked Xavier, + 10)

Nebraska @ Michigan: L (picked Nebraska, + 13)

Boston College @ Virginia: L (picked Virginia, -13)

Oregon @ Arizona: L (picked Arizona, -11)

Oklahamo State @ Texas Tech: W (picked Texas Tech, + 6.5)

West Virginia @ Kansas: L (picked WVU, + 14)