The No. 4 Arizona Wildcats are dominating the competition and have been a popular discussion topic as a candidate for the “best team in the country”.
A two-game trip to Washington state begins in Pullman Saturday night against the red-hot Washington State Cougars. Winners of five straight, the Cougars have moved up to fourth in the Pac-12 standings as they push for an NCAA tournament bid.
Will the Cougars' win streak continue as they pull off the upset at home to add to their resume, or will the Wildcats prove superior?
Check out our college basketball picks and predictions for the Arizona Wildcats and Washington State Cougars on Thursday, February 10 to find out.
Arizona vs Washington State odds
This odds widget represents the best odds available for each betting market from regulated sportsbooks.
Arizona opened as -6.5 favorites on the road, but the line has moved down slightly to -6 across most books at the time of writing. As is the case with most Arizona games, the Over has taken some money. The total has jumped a point from 142.5 at open to 143.5 at current.
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until tip-off and be sure to check out the full college basketball odds before placing your bets.
Arizona vs Washington State predictions
Predictions made on 2/10/2022 at 9:55 a.m. ET.
Click on each prediction to jump to the full analysis.
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Arizona vs Washington State game info
• Location: Friel Court at Beasley Coliseum, Pullman, WA
• Date: Thursday, February 10, 2022
• Tip-off: 9:00 p.m. ET
• TV: FS1
Arizona at Washington State betting preview
Injuries
Arizona: Kim Aiken Jr. F (Out).
Washington State: Jefferson Koulibaly G (Doubtful), Dishon Jackson C (Out).
Find our latest NCAA basketball injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Under is 10-1 in the Cougars’ last 11 home games. Find more NCAA betting trends for Arizona vs. Washington State.
Arizona vs Washington State picks and predictions
Our predictions are compiled from the analysis of the spread and total and are indications of where we are leaning for this game.
Our best bet is the play that we like the most for this game, which we would actually put some of our bankroll behind.
Spread analysis
It’s been a hot topic around sports talk media this week that Arizona has tossed its hat in the ring for the discussion of “best team in the country”. It’s nice to see that folks have finally noticed the efforts of this Wildcats team because they’ve been truly dominant.
Arizona checks in at No. 2 in KenPom, ranking No. 12 in offense and No. 6 in defense. This is a well-rounded team without any glaring weaknesses, but there are some obvious strengths. The Wildcats’ weaponized offensive pace wears teams down. They play at the third-highest tempo nationally en route to 85.1 points per game (also the third-highest mark nationally).
They’re an elite rebounding team and move the ball extremely well offensively, remarkably leading the nation in both rebounds and assists. The Wildcats are one of the tallest teams in the nation, and they utilize this size effectively — crashing the boards and altering opposing shots. Benedict Mathurin (6’7”) leads the team with 16.5 PPG, Azuolas Tubelis (6’11”) averages 14.6 PPG and 6.5 rebounds per game as the jack-of-all-trades, while Christian Koloko (7’1”) and Oumar Ballo (7’0”) dominate down low.
The Wildcats' size and style of play allow their game to travel well. The Wildcats are 5-2 ATS on the road, and that’ll be tested in a difficult two-game road trip to Washington state.
The Cougars have won five straight games and are surging, but we’re concerned about the level of competition. Washington State is 2-4 against Quad 1 and Quad 2 teams, and the best win on the resume is arguably … Arizona State? We’re about to find out if the Cougars are legitimate as they test their mettle against the class of the conference.
Washington State has three players averaging double-digit points per game, and they stand 5’11”, 6’1”, and 6’5”, respectively. They’ll be severely outsized and will need to rely on the long ball offensively at home to keep things close.
The scheduling spot favors the Cougars at home, but the Wildcats are the far superior team in nearly every facet of the game. We expect Arizona to give Washington State a rude awakening in a step-up game.
Prediction: Arizona -6 (-110)
Over/Under analysis
We’ve been riding the Arizona Unders lately, which has been a profitable venture until last Saturday. Despite playing at such a fast tempo, the Wildcats are 7-2 to the Under in their last nine games. The defense is truly suffocating, holding opponents to only 37% from the field. That’s the second-best mark nationally.
Washington State shoots only 42.6% from the field, the No. 255 mark nationally. The Cougars shouldn’t be able to manage much of anything offensively outside of the three-ball. They do convert well from downtown, averaging 9.0 triples per game on 34.6% shooting.
The Cougars are 13-7-1 to the Under on the season. As they’ve found their identity (three and D, slow tempo), they’ve been even heavier to the Under in recent form, cashing in 13 of the last 16 games overall. They’ve been a great bet to go Under at home, going 10-1 to the Under in their last 11 home games.
Prediction: Under 143.5 (-110)
Best bet
We feel confident about both the side and the total, but we’ll be going with the Under as our best bet.
The Cougars will be severely outsized and shouldn’t be able to get much going offensively outside of the three, but they have been playing great defense.
Both teams have been trending aggressively toward the Under, and we’re betting on that continuing one more time.
Pick: Under 143.5 (-110)
Did you know that if you parlayed our Arizona vs. Washington State picks, you could win $26.45 on a $10 bet?
Use our college basketball parlay calculator to create your own parlays and see their potential payouts.
