The Nevada Wolf Pack take on the Arizona State Sun Devils. Check out our March Madness odds series for our Nevada Arizona State prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Nevada Arizona State.
The college basketball season has been a thrill ride for some teams. The Arizona State Sun Devils certainly rate as one of them. They lost to Texas Southern, then at home to Oregon and Colorado. They barely avoided a loss at Stanford which, in retrospect, saved their hide. They hit a 55-foot shot at the final horn to beat Arizona on the road. That is ultimately the shot which got them into the NCAA Tournament, but they did need a Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal win over USC to finish the job and inch over the finish line into the First Four in Dayton. There has never been a dull moment for an ASU team which can look like world-beaters one night and like a CBI team the next.
Nevada was a team which looked very solid for the NCAA Tournament for almost all of the Mountain West Conference season, but at the very end, things got very scary, even bleak, for coach Steve Alford's team. Nevada lost consecutive games to Wyoming, UNLV, and San Jose State, the last of those results being in the Mountain West Tournament quarterfinals. It seemed that Nevada had played its way out of the field, but the Wolf Pack were saved by the selection committee, which put the Pack in Dayton instead of Clemson and Rutgers, a very controversial move on Selection Sunday. Now Nevada gets to prove that it belonged in the field when it goes up against Arizona State.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Nevada-Arizona State March Madness odds.
March Madness Odds: Nevada-Arizona State Odds
Nevada Wolf Pack: +2.5 (-118)
Arizona State Sun Devils: -2.5 (-104)
Over: 135.5 (-110)
Under: 135.5 (-110)
How To Watch Nevada vs. Arizona State
TV: TruTV
Stream: CBSSports.com, March Madness app, fuboTV
Time: 9:10 p.m. ET, 6:10 p.m. PT
*Watch Nevada-Arizona State LIVE with fuboTV (Click for free trial)*
Why Nevada Could Cover the Spread
Arizona State is a shaky offensive team. The Sun Devils don't run good, structured offensive sets. They often chuck a lot of 3-pointers. They are not especially good at moving the ball. They drift into possessions where they dribble and lot and get sucked into one-on-one plays as a source of offense. Nevada's defense is not especially strong, but against Arizona State, it is facing an opponent which is not likely to make the Wolf Pack pay for that limitation.
Another thing to point out is that one of Nevada's key players is Oregon State transfer Jarod Lucas. Because he played in the Pac-12, Lucas knows Arizona State well. He will be prepared for the Sun Devils' defensive maneuvers. Lucas did not play great in the final weeks of the season, when Nevada lost steam. He is in a position to play well here, and that should help Nevada.
Why Arizona State Could Cover the Spread
The Sun Devils faced a very tough road to make the NCAA Tournament. Their final and most decisive win, over USC in the Pac-12 Tournament, demonstrated what is best about Arizona State basketball under coach Bobby Hurley. The Sun Devils played very tough defense. They rebounded the ball really well, getting over a dozen offensive rebounds and converting them into second-chance points. Arizona State plays with great effort because Hurley is one of the better coaches in the country at teaching effort. Not all coaches teach their players how to play hard, but Hurley does. That, plus the ability to contain Jarod Lucas — knowing him well from his days at Oregon State — should help ASU advance.
Final Nevada-Arizona State Prediction & Pick
Arizona State relies on defense, and it should be able to contain Jarod Lucas and the rest of Nevada's offense. If the game is pretty, Nevada will win, but this game is likely to be ugly. Take ASU.
Final Nevada-Arizona State Prediction & Pick: Arizona State -2.5
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