Can The Sun Devils Rally For March Madness Bid?
Don't Back The Sun Devils Per This Arizona vs Arizona State Preview
The Arizona Wildcats will head to Tempe, Arizona, to take on the Arizona State Sun Devils in an exciting rivalry matchup.
The Sun Devils are just 14-14 on the year. However, they’re coming off a win against Washington State, 73-61. They’ve won three of their last five games and ultimately took an overtime loss to Washington in that five-game stretch.
On the other hand, Arizona earned a win over Washington, 91-75, last time out. But they lost to Washington State at home, 77-74. The Sun Devils beat that same team at home on Saturday.
Although the Sun Devils haven’t played great basketball this season, they’re still 10-4 at home.
That’s why the Arizona Wildcats are just 12-point favorites on the road. The total for this game is currently sitting at 159.
Let’s take a look at the Arizona vs Arizona State preview below.
Arizona Wildcats vs Arizona State Sun Devils 
Location: Desert Financial Arena, Tempe, AZ
Day/Time:
Streaming: Pac12
Arizona vs Arizona State Preview & Trends
The Arizona Wildcats are 21-6 straight up and 17-9-1 against the spread this year. However, Arizona hasn’t covered in the last two games.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats have hit the Over one more time than the Under this season. Those last two losses also resulted in Unders. Arizona is also just 5-3 on the road.
On the other hand, Arizona State has gone 10-4 at home but is just 13-15 against the spread this season. Like the Wildcats, the Over has hit more in Arizona State games by two.
Against Arizona State, the Wildcats have gone 8-2 in the last ten games. That includes the earlier meeting on February 17, when Arizona defeated the Sun Devils 105-60 on the road. With the Wildcats listed as an 18.5-point favorite, Arizona easily covered that game and helped the Over 159 hit.
Arizona’s Falling Down The Rankings
The Arizona Wildcats are 21-6 on the season and still one of the best teams in the nation. However, the earlier loss to Washington State on Thursday dropped the Wildcats down a couple of spots in the AP Poll. Have you looked at the most recent kenpom basketball rankings?
The Wildcats went from fourth to sixth and currently wouldn’t be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
With multiple games left in the regular season and the conference tournament coming up, the Wildcats have enough time to get back into the top four before March Madness begins.
Someone Ranked Arizona State 9th!
It might’ve been a mistake. However, Bret Bloomquist of the EL Paso Times ranked the Arizona State Sun Devils as the 9th-best team in the nation per the AP Poll. The NCAA brackets won’t be a reflection of this thinking!
This didn’t seem like a confusion-based pick. The Wildcats were ranked No. 6 in his poll.
Many people on social media called Bloomquist out for this blunder. At this time, he hasn’t responded to the criticism. A 14-14 team is not a top-ten team in the AP Poll.
The Sun Devils might not even make the NCAA Tournament.
Arizona State still received 17 votes in the poll that was released earlier this week. But this is the same team that lost by 45 to Arizona just last weekend.
Arizona State Has No Answers
Let’s go back to the first meeting between these two teams.
Arizona began the game slow, only leading the first ten minutes by three points. However, by the time the first half ended, the Wildcats were up 49-31.
They didn’t let up from there. Arizona added another 56 points in the second half and absolutely dominated the Sun Devils in the final ten minutes, holding Arizona State to 12 points while scoring 34.
Arizona State scored just .82 points per possession and shot just 44.1% from inside the arc. Even worse, the Sun Devils shot 54.5% from the foul line and added only 16.3% of offensive rebounds.
On the other hand, Arizona shot 65.1% from inside the arc and drained 40% from three. The Wildcats got to the foul line more and hit 78.1% from the charity stripe in that game.
The Wildcats were much more active on the glass and turned the ball over just five times in the entire game.
On the road, in a rivalry environment, Arizona likely won’t dominate and win by 40+ points as they did on February 17. But realistically, Arizona State lacks offensive rebounding and ultimately doesn’t shoot the ball well at all.
The Sun Devils have nailed just 31% from three, 48.9% from inside the arc, and 65.7% from the foul line. When the Sun Devils miss shots, they don’t get offensive rebounds. It’ll be increasingly difficult to add many second chances against an Arizona defense that has allowed only 23% of offensive rebounds per game this season.
On the other hand, Arizona has shot 54.6% from inside the arc and shoots mostly shots that aren’t from three. Arizona State has given up a 52.2% rate from inside the arc this season and has allowed 30.2% of offensive rebounds.
The blowout less than two weeks ago made sense. Arizona matches up really well against the Sun Devils.
The Arizona State offense has struggled throughout the year. The rebounding has been even worse. Just look at some of these men’s college basketball scores with Arizona State.
Therefore, after reviewing the Arizona vs Arizona State preview, go ahead and take the Wildcats at -12 (-110). It might not be a 40-point blowout, but this game could get ugly even with Arizona on the road.
Arizona vs Arizona State Odds
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