Arizona vs. Stanford Odds
| Arizona Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-11.5 -110 | 151 -114o / -106u | -720 |
| Stanford Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+11.5 -110 | 151 -114o / -106u | +500 |
The Pac-12 is back to its old peculiar ways.
Don't even bother trying to explain or rationalize the slew of head-scratching results — it's sure to twist your brain into an Auntie Anne's pretzel.
Meet Stanford, a microcosm of the Pac-12's funhouse of mirrors. The Cardinal host Arizona tonight after a sour conclusion to last weekend's Washington trip.
Stanford first notched an impressive road win over a much improved Washington State team. Then, it laid an egg against Washington two nights later, ruining any chance of climbing into the top three of the conference standings.
That loss also halted a five-game cover streak for the Tree, proof that Jerod Haase's crew is slowing rounding into form.
Tonight, they face the ultimate litmus test: Tommy Lloyd and his Tucson-based Wildcats.
Arizona has looked the part of a bonafide national title contender through and through, with its lone blemish coming in a tough road defeat at Tennessee. The Cats are already laying waste to the Pac-12 and show no signs of slowing down.
Arizona Wildcats
Lloyd is the front man of Arizona's basketball revolution. The longtime right hand man of Mark Few at Gonzaga has unlocked a gold mine in the global talent pool.
He's hoarded the cream of the crop from all over the world, as English is often treated as a second language in practice and locker room communication.
Origins aside, the Wildcats all speak Lloyd's language on the hardwood. This high-octane offense, powered by super size and super skill alike, is officially a juggernaut, neighboring on invincible at times.
Holding it all together in super glue fashion has been Estonian point guard Kerr Kriisa. In a locker room littered with foreign influence from all over the globe, Kriisa's enigmatic personality exudes unrivaled confidence that permeates to all corners of the squad.
Unfortunately, that free-wheeling personality got him in trouble last Saturday when Kriisa, reportedly, injured himself "horsing around" just prior to the Utah game.
The Cats still steamrolled the Utes without their heady point guard and Lloyd's already confirmed Kriisa is back in the mix for this weekend's road trip. This is bad news for Cardinal fans.
Stanford Cardinal
Don't look now but Stanford's quietly assembled a respectable resume — no, it's not yet worthy of NCAA Tournament at-large consideration, but you better believe a win over Arizona would catapult the Cardinal into the bubble conversation, and perhaps beyond.
True to their name, the "Tree" boasts exceptional positional size across the board. Per KenPom's "Average Height" metric, the Cardinal are the fourth "tallest" team in America.
Outside of the modestly sized Michael O'Connell (6'2), Stanford will always trot out four players standing anywhere from 6-foot-7 to 6-foot-11. The secret sauce is the triumvirate of Spencer Jones (6-foot-7), Jaiden Delaire (6-foot-9) and freshman phenom Harrison Ingram (6-foot-8).
Any chance of a Cardinal upset hinges on Stanford's length bothering, or at least neutralizing, Arizona in the paint. The concern, however, is that the Cardinal lack an intimidating bruiser needed to check the likes of Azuolas Tubelis (6-foot-11) and Christian Koloko (7-foot-1) up front.
Arizona vs. Stanford Betting Pick
Arizona's journey to NorCal this weekend won't be a picnic, as this is the Wildcats' first traditional two-leg Pac-12 road trip of the season.
The Cats dismantled Oregon State in Corvallis back in early December, but that was a one-off scheduling quirk. This marks U of A's first two-part Pac-12 road trip expedition, which so routinely trips up the league's most prolific power players.
Still, that spot alone isn't enough to entice a wager on the home dog, especially given the COVID constraints will limit the home crowd to only a handful of scattered patrons.
The angle here is the under. Arizona's frenetic tempo is nearly impossible to slow down, but the Cardinal have excelled at deflating the pace, as needed, this year.
Look for the aforementioned size and length of the Cardinal's wing/forward corps to disturb the Cats' offense ever so slightly.
