The Arizona Wildcats and the Washington State Cougars meet Thursday in college basketball action from Beasley Coliseum. Arizona is 17-3 on the season thus far. The Wildcats beat UCLA in their last game on Saturday. As for Washington State, they’re 9-12 this year following a three-point loss to Colorado on Sunday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Arizona Wildcats
The Wildcats have had a pretty solid season over their first 20 games. Arizona went 14-1 to start the season with a lone loss to Utah. Since then the Wildcats are 3-2 with wins over Oregon State, USC and UCLA in that time.
Back on Saturday versus UCLA, the Wildcats were up 26-23 going into the second half. Arizona powered out a 32-29 run from there and won it 58-52. Oumar Ballo scored 16 points and Azuolas Tubelis doubled on 14 points and 10 boards.
Washington State Cougars
Over on the Washington State side, they went 6-10 to start the year, beating Texas State, Eastern WA, Detroit, Northern Kentucky, George Washington and USC. The Cougars are 3-2 in their last five with losses to Utah and Colorado.
Matched up against Colorado on Sunday, the Cougars were down by one point at the break. Washington State didn’t end up getting any closer in a 58-55 defeat. TJ Bamba led the team on 18 points and Andrej Jakimovski put up 12 points.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll probably take a stab on Arizona. Also probably staying away from this one. The Wildcats looked listless on offense the last time these teams met up at McKale Center on January 7. Arizona ended up shooting just 31.7 percent from the field, 16 percent (4-of-25) from 3-point range and 17-of-28 (60.7 percent) from the line. The Wildcats have been hit and miss offensively since then, but I think they can cover if they play to their capabilities. You wouldn’t be crazy to take Washington State here, though; even with the consecutive losses the Cougars don’t have too much pressure on their shoulders after the road win in the first meeting.