Arizona vs Iowa State Prediction 3/13/26 College Basketball Picks Today

The Iowa State Cyclones and the Arizona Wildcats meet Friday in Big 12 Tournament college basketball action from T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. Here’s an Arizona vs Iowa State prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Arizona vs Iowa State pick.

Arizona Wildcats Betting Preview

Arizona got off to an excellent start this season right out of the gate. The Wildcats put up wins in each of their first 23 games, taking their undefeated run to February 9 versus Kansas. Following another loss to Texas Tech in the next game the Wildcats beat BYU, Houston, Baylor, Kansas, Iowa State, Colorado and UCF, making for a 30-2 run through 32 games so far this season.

On Thursday versus UCF in tournament play, the Wildcats held a comfortable lead by the break 46-30. Arizona hit a 35-29 run the rest of the way, powering out the 81-59 blowout victory in the end. Brayden Burries was the leading team scorer on 21 points with three rebounds and two steals. Tobe Awaka added 12 points with 12 rebounds while Motiejus Krivas had 10 boards and nine points during the victory effort.

Iowa State Cyclones Betting Preview

Over on the Cyclones’ side, they opened things up on a nice clip, winning 16 straight games to start the year. Iowa State lost to Kansas and Cincinnati before getting a five-game win streak in January/February afterward. The next seven games were a 3-4 run that contained losses to TCU, BYU, Texas Tech and Arizona. After two wins over Arizona State and one over Texas Tech, the Cyclones are 27-6 overall.

Matched up against Texas Tech in tournament action on Thursday, Iowa State came back out onto the floor after the break with a modest 36-33 edge. The Cyclones got it going in the second half on a 39-20 run and powered out the victory in the end 75-53. Tamin Lipsey was tops on 20 points with four assists and Joshua Jefferson added 18 points with 13 rebounds for a double-double in the victory effort.

Arizona vs Iowa State Prediction

I’ll take a stab on the Cyclones in this one; I just wish the line were a little thicker. Iowa State had a great second half in their win over Texas Tech on Thursday, hitting 53.6 percent from the field overall while giving up just 33.9 percent on defense. The Cyclones added a 33-27 rebounding edge and a 42-18 advantage in the paint while scoring 17 points off 10 Raiders turnovers. Iowa State has won three straight games now (though two were over Arizona State), scoring 75 or more points in all three.

These teams last met up on March 2, which didn’t go very well for the Cyclones. That one was a 73-57 road loss. Iowa State managed to shoot an abysmal 29.2 percent from the field and just 23.3 percent (7-of-30) from outside. The Cyclones were outmuscled on the boards 39-32 and had 11 turnovers for 14 Wildcats points. The 24-16 deficit on points in the paint didn’t help matters either. Iowa State has a big challenge in front of them during this tournament rematch, and I like them to play better while actually giving Arizona a game.