The Arizona Wildcats take on the Washington Huskies. Check out our college basketball odds series for our Arizona Washington prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Arizona Washington.
The Arizona Wildcats are on a bounce-back tour right now. They lost to Washington State by 13 points in Tucson a few weeks ago. They came back on Thursday night and went up to Pullman to score a hard-fought win over the Cougars. Two days before their loss to Washington State in early January, the Wildcats played a bad game against the Washington Huskies in Tucson. They won, but only by three points. They did not look very good. Arizona wants to play a much better game in this rematch against the Huskies and show that it is still a legitimate Pac-12 championship contender. After Arizona beat UCLA one week ago, the Wildcats have reason to think they can be a good team. After UCLA lost to USC on Thursday to tighten up the Pac-12 standings, Arizona has fresh hope that it can still make a run at the Pac-12 title, defending the conference crown it won last year. This is a huge game for the Wildcats, both in terms of establishing a higher standard of play and making a real run in the conference race.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Arizona-Washington College Basketball odds.
College Basketball Odds: Arizona-Washington Odds
Arizona Wildcats: -9.5 (-105)
Washington Huskies: +9.5 (-115)
Over: 151.5 (-110)
Under: 151.5 (-110)
How To Watch Arizona vs. Washington
TV: Fox
Stream: Fox Sports app
Time: 5:30 p.m. ET, 2:30 p.m. PT
*Watch Arizona-Washington LIVE with fuboTV (Click for free trial)*
Why Arizona Could Cover the Spread
The Wildcats were very solid on defense against Washington State on Thursday, playing with much more intensity than they did when they were pancake-flat versus the Cougars a few weeks earlier in January. That bodes well for this game against Washington. Arizona trailed the Huskies by 12 points in the first half. The U of A missed its first 10 field goal attempts at the start of the second half in that game. It was a very bumpy ride for a team which seemed to go through the motions and assume it could just show up and win. It's true that Arizona won that game, but the level of play was very poor. One should expect Arizona to perform at a far higher standard against Washington, and if that happens, the Wildcats — who have the far better athletes and own a lot more power and muscle in the paint — should frankly run the Huskies out of the building.
Why Washington Could Cover the Spread
The Huskies are not a particularly strong team, but they sure are pesky and resilient. They could have lost their hunger to compete when they squandered that late lead against Arizona a few weeks ago, or when they got absolutely drilled by Utah one week ago. Nope. This team keeps fighting back. It won't play well some nights, but the effort is there. Players are still working hard for embattled coach Mike Hopkins, who is legitimately on the hot seat in Seattle. Washington defeated Arizona State, a Pac-12 bubble team, on Thursday night. Washington lost a late lead but responded well in overtime. That's a display of hunger and tenacity which should serve UW well against Arizona.
Let's add the point that Washington is going up against an Arizona team which just isn't getting the level of guard play or 3-point shooting needed to be elite. Arizona has the excellent big men in Azuolas Tubelis and Oumar Ballo, but the guards have not consistently hit perimeter shots, and that trend continued on Thursday against Washington State. Even if Arizona plays with good effort, the Wildcats will remain a relatively ordinary team if they can't hit 3-pointers. That's how Washington, a zone defense team, can stay close and cover.
Final Arizona-Washington Prediction & Pick
Arizona is far more talented than Washington and played poorly a few weeks ago against the Huskies. The thought here is that Arizona will play well. If it does play well, this will be a runaway for the Wildcats.
Final Arizona-Washington Prediction & Pick: Arizona -9.5
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