No. 5 Arizona Basketball faces a scrappy Sun Devil squad

TUCSON, AZ - Riding a five-game winning streak, No. 5 Arizona Basketball (19-5, 10-3) looks to continue its winning ways against Arizona State (13-12, 7-7).

After a triple-overtime win in Salt Lake City, and a dominant win at Colorado last weekend, No. 5 Arizona Basketball is now winners of five straight and will look to extend its winning ways as they welcome bitter rival Arizona State.

Having a week off from basketball action, the Wildcats should have fresh legs as they take on an inconsistent, but scrappy Sun Devils team, and coming in, we should be in store for a fun matchup here.

This is a game that Arizona is heavily favored in, but of course, nothing is ever guaranteed in college basketball, and we expect Arizona State to come in hungry for another upset in Tucson. Plus, ASU does have the talent to pull off the win if the Cats aren't careful.

Hopefully, we see our Wildcats ready to roll and focused from the tip in this one. If they do that, this one really shouldn't be all that close!

Getting to know the details about Arizona Basketball’s opponent, the Arizona State Sun Devils.

Team: Arizona State Sun Devils

Conference: Pac-12 Conference

Current Record: 13–12 (7–7)

Head Coach: Bobby Hurley. Now in his 11th season as a head coach (9th with ASU), Hurley is currently 154–125 (78–83) with the Sun Devils with three NCAA Tournament appearances.

Before he arrived at Arizona State, Bobby was the head coach at Buffalo from 2013-15 where he was 42–20 (25–11) with an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2015. Overall, he is 195–145 as a head coach.

2022-23 Record: Finishing the 2022-23 season with a 23–13 (11–9) record, the Sun Devils ended their year with a loss to TCU in the Round of 64. ASU did beat Nevada in the play-in game.

So with Arizona Basketball taking on Arizona State, here is how you can watch and follow our Wildcats!

Arizona Basketball vs Arizona State Information and Details:

Date: Saturday, February 17, 2024

Time: 7:30 P.M. MST / 6:30 P.M. PST

Television: FS1

Location: McKale Center – Tucson, AZ (14,545)

Spread: -18.5 Arizona (Don’t forget to sign up with Caesars Sportsbook or DraftKings to enhance your overall betting experience)

Overall Series Record: 157-87 Arizona. A lengthy and fierce rivalry, this is one of the oldest rivalries in college sports and dates back as early as 1913, when Arizona then beat Tempe Normal School by a 41-17 final.

Since then, this head-to-head rivalry has been fairly one sided, with Arizona winning seven of the last nine meetings.

Last Meeting: After losing to ASU in Tucson last February in heartbreaking fashion thanks to a deep buzzer-beater, the Wildcats got revenge by beating the Sun Devils in Las Vegas by a 78-59 final at the Pac-12 Conference Tournament.

Arizona Basketball Game Preview:

After earning big wins at Utah and Colorado, the Wildcats are riding high as they are now winners of five straight. And coming in, they will look to continue their winning ways against a talented, but inconsistent Arizona State basketball team.

Overall, the Devils have talent and are scrappy, but haven't been the most consistent team this season. However, they are riding a two-game winning streak after beating Utah in Salt Lake City, and Oregon State at home just a few nights ago. This is also the same team that started conference play at 4-0.

Largely led by veteran guards Frankie Collins and Jose Perez, the two are averaging 13.7 and 12.9 points per game respectively. Juniors Jamiya Neal and Adam Miller have proven to be talented scorers as well, so the Sun Devils do have some guys that can fill up the state sheet.

Overall, this is an offense that doesn't always score a ton of points; however, they do have the talent to go off some nights, averaging 70.0 points per game. Where they do tend to struggle is shooting consistently. So far this year, they are shooting just 42.3 percent and 30.6 percent from three.

Beyond that, the Sun Devils tend struggle on the glass, giving up a +7.4 rebound margin, and they don't seem to have much size down low.

This is a game, that if Arizona can attack the rim, crash the boards, and maintain tempo, they should be able to control this game from start to finish. However, that doesn't mean they can get complacent either.

Hopefully, the Wildcats will be ready to go in this one and continue their winning ways. Saturday's game against the Sun Devils is set for 7:30 P.M. Tucson time with the game being broadcast on FS1.

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