Arizona vs Washington Odds, Picks, Predictions (1/28/23)

Arizona visits Washington in the second game of the Washington road trip. Arizona is coming off an ugly win against Washington State, while Washington won a nail-biter against ASU. This should be an interesting game because Arizona struggled against Washington previously this year. Let’s take a look at the odds and make some picks and predictions for this game!

Arizona vs. Washington Odds

Arizona is a 7-point road favorite against Washington and is at -200 on the money line. The over/under is also at 150.5. Arizona being favored by this much makes sense because they’ve been the better team this year. The over/under also makes sense because whenever teams play Arizona the pace of play is very fast, so both teams are going to score a lot. This spread should stay where it’s at before tip-off.

Arizona vs. Washington Prediction & Pick

The pick: Arizona -7

One of Arizona’s more clunky games this year was against Washington. They still won, but it was close throughout.

For Arizona, it starts and ends with their big men. Azuolas Tubelis is the frontrunner for Pac-12 Player of the Year and leads the Wildcats in points and rebounds per game for the season. Oumar Ballo needs to rebound in this game because he didn’t hit one field goal at all against Washington State. He’s a big key for Arizona and leads the team in blocks per game. Arizona is going to live and die by how consistent their guards are. Kerr Kriisa and Courtney Ramey have been good, but need to be better and more consistent. Kriisa leads the Wildcats in assists and Ramey leads in steals.

As a team, Arizona is known for it’s offense, but it’s defense has been improving throughout the season. They are top-15 in points scored and also 4th in assists at 19 per game. They are also 4th in rebounds at 41 per game.

On the other side, Washington has been okay at best this year, but hasn’t found consistency. Keion Brooks is the do-it-all player for the Huskies. He leads the team in scoring and rebounds per game. Cole Bajema has been good for the Huskies too and is just behind Brooks in scoring. Noah Williams and Franck Kepnang are next in line for scoring production too. Washington has needed someone to take some weight off of Brooks and it has yet to happen.

As a team, Washington is decent on defense, but has struggled to find a consistent offense.

Arizona should cover this spread because they’re just a more talented team. The Huskies are at home, but Arizona should cover, even if it’s close at first, expect the Wildcats to pull away and be too much for the Huskies.

Arizona vs. Washington Key Matchups

Can Braxton Meah matchup with Azuolas Tubelis? Can Cedric Henderson Jr. matchup with Keion Brooks?

Azuolas Tubelis vs Braxton Meah

Azuolas Tubelis has been almost unstoppable for Arizona this year. He averages 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 assists per game for the season. He’ll see time against Braxton Meah for some of the game, who averages 9 points, 1 assist, and 7 rebounds per game for the season. Meah has been good for Washington on defense, and he has a big matchup with both Tubelis and Ballo. Tubelis is more of a key for Arizona, so this matchup is big to see if anyone can guard Tubelis and be successful.

Keion Brooks vs Cedric Henderson Jr.

Keion Brooks has been a do-it-all player for the Huskies. He averages 18 points, 1 assist, and 7 rebounds per game for the season. he’ll be matched up against Cedric Henderson Jr. most of the game, who averages 7 points, 1 assist, and 3 rebounds per game for the season. Henderson was put into the starting lineup recently and it’s helped Arizona out a lot, especially on defense. This will be a big matchup because Brooks has been where most of Washington’s offense has come from this season.