Boise St. to face Iowa St. in DHC finals

Published on Tuesday, 12/24/13, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern.

By Brian Edwards

Iowa State and Boise State will collide in the Diamond Head Classic finals on Christmas night in Honolulu. As of late Tuesday afternoon, most betting shops had the Cyclones installed as 4.5-point favorites with a total of 156.

Anthony Drmic led the Broncos to an easy 80-54 win over South Carolina on Monday. Drmic dropped 30 points on the Gamecocks while his play-making point guard Derrick Marks was saddled with foul trouble.

In the tourney opener, BSU beat host Hawaii 62-61 thanks to Drmic’s trey from the left wing off a double screen with 59 ticks remaining.

Leon Rice’s team is 10-2 straight up with its defeats coming at Kentucky (70-55) and vs. Saint Mary’s (82-74). However, the Broncos are 2-5 against the spread, failing to cover in its win over Hawaii as three-point ‘chalk.’

Iowa St. (10-0 SU, 6-2 ATS) advanced to the finals by virtue of wins over George Mason and Akron. The Cyclones took the cash in both spots. Georges Niang scored 22 points in each victory.

The action from Hawaii on Christmas Day starts at 1:30 p.m. Eastern when George Mason takes on Saint Mary’s. Most spots have the Gaels favored by 9.5 with the total in the 134-135 range. The Patriots have lost six of their last games both SU and ATS.

Randy Bennett’s squad has had a nightmare trip. First, Saint Mary’s lost 78-71 to South Carolina as a 10-point favorite. Then on Monday, the Gaels lost a nail-biter to Hawaii.

The two other games on the board are Hawaii (-4.5) vs. Oregon St. and Akron (-4.5) vs. South Carolina.