Arizona State vs Tarleton State 11/7/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Tarleton Texans and the Arizona State Sun Devils meet in college basketball action from Desert Financial Arena on Monday.

The Tarleton Texans will look to take a step forward after a mediocre 2021-22 season, finishing at 14-17 overall, including a 9-9 mark in WAC conference play. Due to the sanctions for the transition from D-II, the Texans were ineligible for the WAC tournament, ending their season. The Texans will be tasked with replacing a pair of double-digit scorers from last year in Montre’ Gipson (14.9 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 3.2 APG) and Tahj Small (13.8 PPG, 5.6 RPG). The good news is that Tarleton does return Freddy Hicks (12.8 PPG, 5.3 RPG) while also bringing help in via the transfer portal, like former Chicago State forward Coreyoun Rushin (10.1 PPG, 7 RPG) and SIU-Edwardsville guard Courtney Carter (8 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 3.5 APG) to aid in the cause. It’s going to be another year focusing on development for Tarleton, but the pieces are there for Billy Gillespie to succeed and help the Texans grow.

The Arizona State Sun Devils will try to bounce back from another disappointing season under Bobby Hurley, finishing at 14-17 overall, including 10-10 in Pac-12 conference play to finish in 8^th place. The Sun Devils would be bounced from the conference tournament by Stanford in the first round, ending their season. The Sun Devils do lose three double-digit scorers from last year’s team in Jay Heath (10.6 PPG), Marreon Jackson (10.4 PPG, 4 RPG) and Kimani Lawrence (10.1 PPG, 6.3 RPG) as well as Jalen Graham (9.9 PPG, 4.6 RPG). There are replacements coming in droves though, led by Desmond Cambridge (16.2 PPG, 5.1 RPG) and Warren Washington (10.5 PPG, 6.6 RPG) from Nevada to help alongside the returning DJ Horne (12.5 PPG). The Sun Devils will also hope for a clean bill of health for Marcus Bagley who showed promise in an injury-plagued campaign last time we saw him. Only time will tell if the Sun Devils are ready to step forward, or maybe if it’s Bobby Hurley that’s been the issue all along.

Tarleton is 4-10 ATS in their last 14 games overall while the under is 4-0 in their last 4 games overall. Arizona State is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 home games while the under is 8-1 in their last 9 Monday games.

I get how you could make a case for Tarleton as I’ve personally made a pretty penny by fading Arizona State and their porous ATS record. However, the Sun Devils are simply the better team here and reloaded with guys like Cambridge and Washington as well. I just don’t know if Tarleton has the level to match what ASU’s going to bring to the table here. Give me the Sun Devils.