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The Oregon State Beavers take on the Arizona Wildcats. Check out our college basketball odds series for our Oregon State Arizona prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Oregon State Arizona.
The college basketball season has not been a smooth, comfortable journey for Arizona. The Wildcats are having a good season, but not really a great one, at least not right now. The Wildcats need to catch UCLA for the Pac-12 championship if they want to feel they have done everything they can this season; they haven't arrived at that point, though they are close, one game behind the Bruins entering Saturday's play. Arizona's guards have been inconsistent this season. When they are hitting 3-point shots, this team is really scary and gains a very high ceiling. However, those perimeter shots have not been falling with the regularity this team needs. Kerr Kriisa is an erratic player who can and will shoot Arizona out of games. Courtney Ramey has hit some very big buckets for the U of A this season, but his shot isn't always there. If the Arizona guards aren't on top of their game, opponents pack the paint and focus on stopping the Arizona big men, Azuolas Tubelis and Oumar Ballo. Oregon — which lost to Arizona on Thursday — hammered Arizona a few weeks ago in Eugene by employing this strategy. Opposing teams will continue to focus on the bigs unless or until the guards can play significantly better. This is the challenge for Arizona and coach Tommy Lloyd one month before March.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Oregon State-Arizona College Basketball odds.
College Basketball Odds: Oregon State-Arizona Odds
Oregon State Beavers: +20.5 (-110)
Arizona Wildcats: -20.5 (-110)
Over: 141.5 (-110)
Under: 141.5 (-110)
How To Watch Oregon State vs. Arizona
TV: Pac-12 Network
Stream: Pac-12 Now
Time: 9:30 p.m. ET, 6:30 p.m. PT
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*Watch Oregon State-Arizona LIVE with fuboTV (Click for free trial)*
Why Oregon State Could Cover the Spread
Arizona is a far better team than Oregon State. No one disputes this. However, if you recall the first meeting between these teams roughly one month ago in Corvallis, Arizona — as a 15.5-point favorite — took a 63-42 lead with over 11 minutes left in regulation. Arizona backers clearly looked like they were going to win the bet. However, the Wildcats then took their feet off the gas pedal. Assured of victory, they just didn't push very hard in the final 11 minutes. They glided to the finish line with an 86-74 win. Oregon State covered because of a shift in garbage time. With the spread being over 20 points, keep in mind that Arizona has not covered with large (15-plus-point) spreads against California and Utah Tech and other opponents this season. Even if Arizona leads by 20 with eight or nine minutes left, it's not a likelihood that Arizona will continue to build on the lead.
Why Arizona Could Cover the Spread
The Wildcats are coming off a strong performance against Oregon in which big man Azuolas Tubelis went off for 40 points, 27 of them in the first half. With Tubelis playing extremely well, he can dominate this game and immediately get the Wildcats a 15-point lead in the first 10 to 12 minutes of the game. There will still be 28 to 30 minutes of game time left. Arizona can build its lead to 25 at halftime and to 30 with 10 minutes left, such that any late-game regression won't matter in terms of covering the spread.
Final Oregon State-Arizona Prediction & Pick
Arizona is likely to win big, but big enough to cover? Stay away from this one, given that Arizona has failed to cover a lot of large home spreads this season.
Final Oregon State-Arizona Prediction & Pick: Arizona -20.5
