The Arizona Wildcats had their 21-game home winning streak snapped on Saturday night in a pulsating 77-72 loss to the UCLA Bruins. It was a gut-wrenching defeat for the Wildcats who dropped into a tie with Oregon for first place in the Pac-12 standings heading into the final week of the regular season. Oregon holds the tiebreaker by beating Arizona in the teams’ only meeting this campaign.
Defense has been Arizona’s bread-and butter this season but UCLA ripped that to shreds last Saturday. Five players scored in double figures for the Bruins, led by Bryce Alford’s 15. What hurt the Wildcats the most, though, in that loss was their inability to secure the defensive board. The Bruins recorded 19 second-chance points to Arizona’s four. In the second half alone, UCLA outrebounded Arizona, 9-1, on the offensive glass.
They will look to end their regular season on a high note when they face crosstown rivals Arizona State this coming Saturday. The Wildcats will fancy their chances of doing just that as they have fared extremely well against the Sun Devils of late. Arizona has won each of its last three meetings with Arizona State. The Wildcats thrashed the Sun Devils, 91-75, in their first matchup this season. Lauri Markkanen starred for Arizona in that rout, scoring a career-high 30 points.
Arizona is 9-1 SU and 8-2 ATS in its last 10 road games.
Betting on the Arizona State Sun Devils (14-16, 7-10 Pac-12)
The Arizona State Sun Devils finally snapped their two-game losing streak with a stunning 83-82 victory over the USC Trojans on Sunday. Tra Holder’s two free throws with 6.9 seconds to play sealed an improbable comeback for the Sun Devils who rallied from six points down in the final 30 seconds.
Arizona State will look to make it back-to-back upset wins when they host Arizona this coming Saturday. For the Sun Devils to accomplish that feat, they will need to get a much better performance from Torian Graham. The Pac-12’s second-leading scorer at just under 19 points per game made just 2-of-12 shots and was 0-for-7 from beyond the arc in the win against USC. Fortunately for Graham, his teammates stepped up big time on Sunday. Kodi Justice played the game of his life, scoring a career-high 22 points, including a career-best six 3-pointers. Holder also chipped in 18 markers.
The Sun Devils will need a total team effort if they are to beat Arizona this coming weekend. They will need to find ways to disrupt an Arizona offense that’s averaging 75.3 points per game this season. Arizona dominated Arizona State in their last meeting on January 12, shooting 57 percent from the field and posting a 38-22 rebounding advantage. The Wildcats also scored 19 second-chance points on 12 offensive rebounds in that contest and had 25 assists on 34 made field goals.
Arizona State is 6-4 ATS in its last 10 home games.
