Washington State Cougars at Arizona Wildcats

Betting Odds

Point Spread: Arizona Wildcats( -8.5)
Game Total Line: (143)
(wagering lines available at 5Dimes)

The Washington State Cougars will be looking to add a quality win to their resume when they take on with the Arizona Wildcats this Thursday night in a PAC-10 matchup from the McKale Center in Tucson. Tips-off is set for 8:30 p.m. (ET) and the game will be broadcast nationally on the FOX Sports Network.

You can rest assure that Washington State still has last month’s 65-63 loss to the Wildcats as a 2 ½-point home favorite fresh on its mind heading into Thursday night’s tilt. Since then the Cougars have been unable to gain any ground in the conference with three wins and two losses in their last five games. They are coming off a 75-71 victory over California this past Saturday as a 6 ½-point home favorite after losing to Stanford 75-62 as an 8 ½-point home favorite last Thursday. Washington State is now 17-8 straight-up overall and 13-9-1 against the spread. It trails Arizona by 3 ½-games in the conference with a 7-6 SU record.

The Cougars’ primary weapon this season has been junior guard Klay Thompson. He leads the team with 20.6 points a game and is averaging 5.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists. Two other key contributors have been junior forward DeAngelo Casto, who leads the team in rebounds with 6.4 a game and is averaging 11.2 points and junior guard Faisal Aden, who is second in scoring with 13.3 points a game.

Washington State is averaging 73 points a game and shooting 46.5 percent from the field. The Cougars are hitting 35.4 percent of their shots from three-point range and 69.5 percent of their free-throws. A major area of concern has been under the boards where they are ranked 192nd in the nation with an average of just 34.8 rebounds a game.

Arizona comes into this matchup having won nine of its last 10 games including a dramatic 107-105 victory over Cal in triple-overtime on Feb.5 as a two-point road favorite and a 67-52 rout of Arizona State as a 4 ½-point road favorite this past Sunday. The Wildcats are 21-4 SU overall (14-8-1 ATS) and are on top of the PAC-10 with a record of 10-2 SU.

Sophomore forward Derrick Williams is the player to watch for Arizona. He leads the team with 19.2 points and eight rebounds a game. Williams is shooting an amazing 63.7 percent from the field and 69.4 percent from three-point range. Another sophomore, Lamont Jones is averaging 9.4 points a game and junior guard Kyle Fogg is third with 8.6 points.

The Wildcats are ranked 19th in the nation in scoring with an average of 78 points a game but have also been weak under the boards with just 35 rebounds a game. They are shooting 48.1 percent from the field and have been solid from the free-throw line; hitting 74.4 percent of their attempts.

Washington State is 2-2 ATS in its last four games on the road and 2-4 ATS in its last six games overall. The total has gone ‘over’ in three of its last five games.

Arizona is 2-3 ATS in its last five games at home but 5-0-1 ATS in its last six games overall. The total has gone ‘over’ in four of its last five games.

Head-to-head, the Wildcats lost the previous three games SU until their two-point win earlier this season. The Cougars are 3-1 ATS in the last four games and the total has stayed ‘under’ in three of them.

Against the Spread Game Pick

This time around Arizona opened as a 8.5 point favorite at home and while it has a good chance to win this game outright, the Cougars will once again keep things close enough to cover.
Take Washington State +8.5 at 5Dimes and get reduced juice on game day!