Arizona To Faceoff Washington in Pac-12’s NCAAB Betting Thriller

The Arizona Wildcats are in unfamiliar territory, coming off a heartbreaking 81-78 loss against their bitter in-state rivals the Sun Devils, and they now have to find a way of shaking off that loss in readiness for Friday’s road test against the Washington Huskies. Luckily for the Wildcats, the Huskies (14-9, 3-8 Pac-12) are in the middle of five-game losing skid, which gives the No. 7 Arizona a strong chance to beat Washington. Nonetheless, the Huskies still have a decent chance to kick-start their postseason ambitions, especially if they can claim a home win this Friday. This, therefore, sets up an interesting NCAAB betting matchup between them and the Wildcats. Venue: Alaska Airlines Arena, Seattle, Washington Date: Friday, February 13, 2015 Time: 9:00 PM ET TV: ESPN/ WATCH ESPN Spread: Arizona -8.5

NCAAB Odds and Game Preview

Both the Wildcats and Huskies, though looking for the all-important win this Friday, are entering this game with their fair share of injury-concerns and thin rosters, which is likely to limit how they play. On Arizona’s squad, backup point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright is still recuperating from the concussion he suffered against Oregon on January 28th. According to the Arizona Daily Star, Jackson-Cartwright “wants to get back more than anyone…our training staff is handling it well and they aren’t going to throw him into practice too early, so they are going to do what’s best for him.” After Arizona Coach Sean Miller said that the backup point guard must be symptom-free and pass a concussion recovery test before he is allowed back on the team, it’s likely that Jackson-Cartwright will miss Friday’s game. On the flip side, Washington will go into Friday’s contest without 6-10 forward Jernard Jarreau (knee injury) and 7-foot center Robert Upshaw (kicked off the team on January 26th), both whose absence have greatly affected the team over the recent weeks, seeing the Huskies go from an 11-0 record and a No. 13 national ranking to a 14-9 non-ranked team in just six weeks.

The absence of Upshaw, a record-setting shot-blocker, has particularly injured Washington’s defense, seeing them surrender too many points against opposing forwards. In Washington’s losses to Stanford and California, the team gave up 24 points to Cardinal guard Chasson Randle, while Golden Bear guard Jordan Matthew had a virtuoso 31-point performance. Meanwhile, Oregon and Oregon State (Washington’s most recent opponents on February 4th and 8th respectively) outscored the Huskies by a combined total of 18 points. With the Huskies’ defense porously allowing points and the offense struggling to put big numbers on the scoreboard, it going to be an uphill task to combat the Wildcats, who are ranked at No. 22 in points allowed per game (59.2) and No. 33 in points scored per game (75.0), including an impressive .491 field goal percentage (ranked 10th-best in the league). Furthermore, even in their 3-point loss to ASU last Saturday, the Wildcats were still able to have a solid showing, with T.J. McConnell’s scoring a team-leading 25 points and four assists. Therefore, even if Jackson-Cartwright won’t be available on Friday, other players like McConnell, Brandon Ashley and Stanley Johnson should be able to spearhead a strong road showing for the Wildcats.

Key Betting Trends • Arizona is 12-6 SU in its last 18 games on the road and 3-6 ATS in its last nine games on the road • Washington is 2-4 SU in its last six games at home and 2-5 ATS in its last seven games at home • Arizona is 4-8-1 ATS in its last 13 games when playing on the road against Washington • Washington is 5-1 SU in its last six games when playing at home against Arizona • The total has gone OVER in ten of Arizona’s last 13 games when playing on the road against Washington • The total has gone UNDER in five of Washington’s last six games when playing Arizona

Writer’s Prediction

The hot-firing Utah Utes are tied atop the Pac-12 standings with Wildcats, something which Arizona will be mindful of, thus playing strongly on Friday to avoid giving the Huskies any chances of an upset. A comfortable win and cover for Arizona is therefore the smart bet here, with the total leaning more on the UNDER side.