Arizona vs. Washington State NCAAB Preview
Where: Friel Court – Pullman, WA
When: Thursday, February 16, 2017, 9:00 PM ET
Line: Arizona Wildcats (-12.5) at Washington State Cougars (+12.5) – view all NCAA basketball lines
TV Broadcast: Fox Sports 1
Writer’s Pick: Arizona Wildcats (-12.5)
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Betting on the Arizona Wildcats (23-3, 12-1 Pac-12)
No. 5 Arizona was hardly at its best last time out against Cal, but it still emerged with a 62-57 win. Their top two scorers, freshman Lauri Markkanen and sophomore Allonzo Trier combined to go just 1-of-10 from the floor for 9 points. But Kobi Simmons had 13 points off the bench and Dusan Ristic had 12 points to lead the Wildcats to victory.
Markkanen’s struggles are becoming a slight cause for concern. The fab freshman is averaging just 6.5 points and shooting 20 percent from the field over his last four games, way down from his season numbers of 15.2 points on 49 percent shooting.
Another matchup with Washington State could be exactly what Markkanen needs to snap out of his slump, though. He had 16 points and 13 rebounds in his first meeting with the Cougars last month as he led the Wildcats to a 79-62 win. Trier added 17 points and 7 assists in his second game of the season.
Apart from their big loss to Oregon in Eugene, the Wildcats have had very few problems on the road this season. That’s why they’re top of the Pac-12 standings. They’re 5-0 in their other five conference road games, with an average margin of victory of nearly 16 points. Unsurprisingly, they also went a perfect 5-0 against the spread in those games.
They’ve been equally as dominant in their recent visits to Pullman. They’ve gone 5-0 (SU and ATS) in their last five road games against Wazzu.
Betting on the Washington State Cougars (11-14, 4-9 Pac-12)
Washington State’s struggles this season continue. They remain second-from-bottom in the conference, no thanks to a recent losing skid has now hit four games after they were absolutely crushed 81-49 by Colorado in Boulder. Senior Josh Hawkinson (15.7 points, 10 rebounds per game this season) was limited to just 8 points and 9 boards by the Buffs as the Cougars collectively shot just 39 percent from the field, were outrebounded by 13, and committed 24 turnovers.
That blowout loss was somewhat surprising considering the Cougs were pretty competitive in their recent games. Despite going just 1-7 in their previous eight games, they had gone 6-2 against the spread. They had given Utah a bit of a scare and lost by just 4 points despite being 16-point road underdogs.
For Wazzu to stand any chance of making their second matchup against Arizona competitive, Ike Ireogbu needs to come up big again. He was limited to just 5 points against Colorado, but he had scored at least 17 points in five of his previous six games, including three 20-plus point performances. The one exception in those six games was his paltry 10-point output against Arizona in Tucson.
Writer’s Prediction
Arizona (-12.5) puts together another dominant performance on the road and covers against Wazzu in a 77-63 win.
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