No. 7 Arizona Basketball has to be ready for battle with ASU

Fresh off their sweep of the Los Angeles schools, No. 7 Arizona Basketball (19-2, 9-1) returns to action to take on rival ASU (7-13, 3-7) for another in-state battle. 

After putting together a huge week and sweeping the Los Angeles schools, Arizona Basketball is back in action against Pac-12 rival, Arizona State.

These two teams just met over a week ago, and the last time they faced off, the Wildcats came away with a narrow win in which they did not shoot particularly well.

Coming into this one, the Wildcats should be feeling good as they sit comfortably atop the Pac-12 standings. However, so should ASU, as the Sun Devils scored the massive, triple-overtime win over UCLA on Saturday evening.

Even with the Wildcats being the heavy favorites here, anything can happen in rivalry games, so we still expect ASU to put up a bit of a fight in this one.

Hopefully, even with Arizona playing in a hostile environment against a team with nothing to lose, head coach Tommy Lloyd will have his team ready to roll!

Getting to Know the details of Arizona Basketball’s opponent, the Arizona State Sun Devils.

Team: Arizona State Sun Devils

Conference: Pac-12 Conference

2020-21 Record: Finishing the year with an 11-14 (7-10) record in 2020-21, the Sun Devils finished in 9th place in the conference, ending their season with a Quarterfinals loss to Oregon in the Conference Tournament.

Head Coach: Bobby Hurley is in his 7th season with the Sun Devils, having compiled a 111-96 (53-64) record so far. Bobby is currently coaching his 9th season in the NCAA overall, making a previous stop with Buffalo from 2013-15, where he has compiled a 152–116 record overall as a head coach.

Keys to the Game:

Don’t let Arizona State get their Confidence Going – Coming into this one, the Sun Devils are going to riding high following their win over No. 3 UCLA. And if you are Arizona, there is no sense in letting the Sun Devils hang around in this one and let ASU get good looks from the field.

In short, the Sun Devils are not a great shooting or offensive team, shooting just 45.2 percent from the field, including 28.0 percent from beyond the arc while scoring just 63.5 points per game.

So the longer Arizona lets ASU hang around, the tighter this game will be. For the Wildcats to win, they are going to have to come out focused and ready to play early on, or the Wildcats could be in danger of an upset.

Attack the Paint – The Wildcats have the size advantage down low, and with the Sun Devils committing an average of 19.3 fouls and letting teams shoot an average of 20.1 free throws per game, this is a matchup that should favor Arizona significantly.

Arizona is an aggressive team when they want to be, and against ASU they need to attack the paint and put the pressure on the Sun Devils early. If the Wildcats do this, they are going to come away with the big win!

Bench Production – Arizona has a deep and productive bench, and compared to ASU, the Wildcats should have a significant advantage here once again.

Coming in, the Wildcats’ bench will need to continue to step up if they are going to win, and against a team like Arizona State, they are going to have to bring it if they are going to win.

Should the Wildcats get a high level of production from Oumar Ballo, Justin Kier, and Pelle Larsson, this one will be a big win for the Wildcats.

Arizona Basketball versus the Arizona State Sun Devils game information and details:

Date: Monday, Feb. 7, 2022

Time: 7:00 P.M. MST / 6:00 P.M. PST

Location: Desert Financial Arena, Tempe, Ariz. (14,198)

Spread: -13.5 Arizona (Also, don’t forget to use WynnBet to enhance your overall betting experience)

Television: FS1

Radio: 107.5 FM (Tucson) / 1290AM (Tucson) | Arizona IMG Sports Network

Team Records:

No. 7 Arizona Wildcats (19-2, 9-1): Sweeping the Los Angeles schools and taking a commanding lead in the Pac-12, Arizona will look for the regular-season sweep over ASU in what will likely be a challenging showdown in Tempe.

Arizona State Sun Devils (7-13, 3-7): The Sun Devils should be riding high, especially after coming off a triple-overtime win over No. 3 UCLA on Saturday evening. ASU plays much better at home than on the road, and coming into this one, the Sun Devils will likely not provide an easy challenge for the Wildcats.

Head-to-Head Record (since 1949-50): Overall, Arizona has dominated this matchup, leading the head-to-head series 156–86 all-time which includes 10 wins in the last 13 matchups, and three straight wins.

Last Meeting vs. Arizona: The last time the Wildcats played the Sun Devils was in Tucson where Arizona came away with the slim, 67-56 win.

My Prediction: Arizona 75 ASU 67 – Arizona’s length and athleticism make this second matchup yet another challenging game for Arizona State. While the Sun Devils have gotten some big wins recently, they are still an inconsistent team, and following their triple-overtime win, I got to imagine the Devils are going to be a bit drained.

And with the Wildcats coming off a sweep over the Los Angeles schools, I expect Arizona to be all business in this one, just eking out the win against the Devils!