The Arizona Wildcats (22-11) travel to face off against the Houston Cougars (30-4) on Saturday, March 15th. This game will be played at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City and televised on ESPN. Both team’s come into this one having won their previous games. Tip-off is set for 6:00 ET.

Arizona Wildcats vs Houston Cougars

The Wildcats Are Coming Off A Win

Arizona Wildcats Recent Game/Games

Arizona improved to 22-11 on the season with an 86-80 road win over Texas Tech on Friday. The Wildcats entered the game as +2 point underdogs and covered the spread with the victory.

Arizona led 47-39 at halftime and scored 39 points in the 2nd half while allowing 41. The game’s total points of 166 went over the pre-game O/U line of 153.

The Cougars Are Coming Off A Win

Houston Cougars Recent Game/Games

Houston improved to 30-4 on the season with a 74-54 win over BYU on Friday, March 14th. Playing at home, the Cougars entered the game as -6.5 favorites and covered the spread. The total points for the game were 128, falling short of the 134.5 O/U line.

Houston dominated early, leading 41-20 at halftime. While they scored 33 points in the 2nd half, they allowed 34 points, a slight drop in defensive intensity compared to the 1st half.

Wildcats Offense Breakdown

Arizona’s offense put up 86 points in their last game, shooting 50.8% from the field and 57.4% in effective field goal percentage. They hit 50% from beyond the arc, going 8-for-16, and made 76.2% of their free throws, connecting on 16 of 21 attempts.

Caleb Love led the way with 27 points, shooting 66.7% overall and 62.5% from three-point range. Kevin Overton added 20 points, hitting 4 of 7 from deep, while Christian Anderson contributed 19 points in 40 minutes on the floor.

Cougars Offense Breakdown

Houston put up 74 points in their last game, shooting 41.8% from the field with an effective field goal percentage of 50.9%. They hit 10 threes at a 38.5% clip and connected on 78.3% of their free throws, going 18-for-23 from the line.

Emanuel Sharp led the way with 26 points, hitting 5-of-7 from beyond the arc, while L.J. Cryer added 20 points despite shooting 4-of-11 from three. Keba Keita was a force inside, grabbing 12 rebounds and scoring 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting.

Wildcats Team Defense

Arizona’s defense gave up 80 points, with their opponents shooting 42% from the field on 26 of 61 attempts. Inside the arc, the Wildcats allowed 17 of 33 two-point shots to fall, a 51% shooting rate.

From three-point range, Arizona’s defense held their opponents to 9 of 28 shooting, or 32%. At the free-throw line, the opposition shot 63%, making 19 of 30 attempts. The Wildcats also allowed 14 offensive rebounds.

Cougars Team Defense

Arizona’s defense gave up 80 points in this game, with the opposing team shooting 42% from the field, hitting 26 of their 61 attempts. Inside the arc, they connected on 51% of their two-point shots, going 17/33.

From three-point range, the other team managed to make 9 of 28 attempts, shooting 32%. Arizona also sent them to the free-throw line 30 times, where they made 19, shooting 63%. The Wildcats allowed 14 offensive rebounds.

Wildcats vs Cougars Trends

• In their last ten games away from home, the Wildcats have a straight up record of 6-4 while going 6-4 vs. the spread. The team averaged 76 points per game in this stretch.
• When looking at their past ten home matchups, Houston has an ATS record of 7-3 while averaging 71 per game. The team went 10-0 overall in these games.
• The last ten games that Arizona was the underdog, they have an ATS mark of 6-4 while going 6-4 straight up.
• In their last five contests as the favorite, Houston has a poor record vs the spread going 1-4. But, they still put together a straight up mark of 5-0.

Wildcats vs Cougars Prediction

For today’s matchup we are recommending to take the Cougars to secure the win, with an expected final score of 80-67. When it comes to the spread, we believe they’ll cover at -7.5.

As for the total, the line is currently sitting at 134.5 and our model has the Wildcats and Cougars finishing with a combined 147 points. Our pick is to take the over.

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All odds are courtesy of Action247 Sportsbook. Good luck!!

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* All odds are provided by Action247 Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.**All views expressed are my own. My picks are my own and are not a guarantee, bet at your own risk.Action247 does not warrant the accuracy of completeness of the information, text, graphics, links or other items contained within these post.