The Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Arizona Wildcats meet Saturday in college basketball action from McKale Center in Tucson. Here’s an Arizona vs Texas Tech prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Arizona vs Texas Tech pick.
Texas Tech Red Raiders Betting Preview
The Red Raiders started the season pretty well, winning seven of their first 10 games out of the gate. The trio of losses were versus Illinois, Purdue and Arkansas. Texas Tech managed a 9-1 run over the next 10 games with wins over Northern Colorado, Duke, Winthrop, Oklahoma State, Colorado, Utah, BYU, Baylor and Houston. After losses to UCF and Kansas the Raiders beat West Virginia for a 17-6 run over their first 23 outings.
On Wednesday versus Colorado, the Raiders were looking good in the locker room, hanging on to a comfortable 39-22 advantage. Texas Tech duplicated that 39-22 run in the second half and cruised to the victory 78-44 on their home floor in blowout fashion. Donovan Atwell provided 20 points and two boards, while JT Toppin doubled up on 16 points and 18 rebounds in the winning effort.
Arizona Wildcats Betting Preview
Over on the Arizona side, they opened the season on a great run. Across their first 23 games, Arizona took out Florida, Utah Tech, Northern Arizona, UCLA, UConn, Denver, Norfolk State, Auburn, Alabama, Abilene Christian, San Diego State, Bethune-Cookman, South Dakota State, Utah, Kansas State, TCU, Arizona State, UCF, Cincinnati, BYU, Arizona State and Oklahoma State. After a loss to Kansas, the Wildcats have a 23-1 record so far.
In the Kansas matchup on Monday, the Wildcats were entering the second half with a fairly slim 45-42 edge. Arizona was outscored 40-33 the rest of the way however, leading to a tough loss on the road 82-78 in the end. Brayden Burries led the team on his 25 points with five rebounds and Motiejus Krivas doubled up on 14 points with 15 rebounds and four assists in 31 minutes of action.
Why the Arizona Wildcats will win
- Arizona has won each of its last 16 games as a top-10 AP-ranked team at McKale Memorial Center.
- Texas Tech has lost each of its last seven day games against Top 5 AP-ranked opponents.
- Arizona has won the first half in each of its last 10 day games at McKale Memorial Center.
Why the Texas Tech Red Raiders will win
- Texas Tech has won 10 of its last 11 games when playing with a rest disadvantage.
- Arizona has lost each of its last three February games as a top-15 AP-ranked team against an AP-ranked team.
- Texas Tech has won the first half in 12 of its last 13 day games against Conference opponents.
Total Points Facts
- Each of Texas Tech’s last five games against teams with an AP Ranking of 1 have produced a total of 142 or fewer points.
- Each of Arizona’s last four games against AP-ranked opponents have produced a total of 160+ points.
Arizona vs Texas Tech Prediction
I’ll lean toward Arizona. The Wildcats are coming off their first blemish of the season versus a very good Kansas team despite playing pretty well overall. Arizona shot 44.4 percent from the field with a 41-36 rebounding edge and 42 points in the paint. The Wildcats weren’t great from the line on 57.1 percent (8-of-14) however, and coughed up 12 turnovers in the road defeat. Arizona is still scoring very well this year with 77 or more points in 13 straight games. This would be a perfect opportunity to bounce back from their loss in a comfortable home matchup.
As for Texas Tech, they demolished Colorado in a home victory this week thanks to 45.2 percent shooting, a 45-27 rebounding advantage and just 29.1 percent shooting allowed on defense. The Raiders have won consecutive games (since consecutive losses), scoring 148 combined points in that pair. They could be a bit of trouble for the Wildcats here if all goes well.