Pick: Your pick will be graded at Pinnacle @ -9.5 -101 Arizona
Expert:Steve Merril
Evaluation:Feb 14 - 8:00 PM
Star Rating:10.0
Reason For Pick:
USC has shocked the Pac 12 so far this season. The Trojans come into tonight’s game at Arizona with an 18-6 record, including a 7-4 mark in conference play. USC was picked to finish tenth in the Pac 12 over the summer because the team is loaded with youth and inexperience. But the Trojans have overachieved thus far, and tonight’s game against a revenge-minded Arizona team will be an extremely difficult challenge. USC will be playing on a back-to-back road set for the fifth time this season; they lost the second game of back-to-backs their four previous times. And those games came against much lesser competition like Monmouth-NJ, Washington, and Oregon State. The Trojans have lost their last three road games by an average of 10 points per game, and Arizona is a better team than all three of the opponents they played. USC’s defense is allowing 78.6 points per game on the road this season.
Arizona is on a 4-game winning streak after going just 3-4 over their previous seven games. One of those losses came at USC when the Trojans won 103-101 in overtime. That was a terrible spot for the Wildcats as they were playing their third straight road game while coming off a close loss at UCLA. Despite the poor spot, Arizona only lost by 2 points on USC’s home court. The difference in that game came at the free throw line where USC was +15 points (26-11) and +17 attempts (33-16). The Trojans won’t get a favorable whistle in tonight’s game, especially since they’ll be playing on Arizona’s strong home court. The Wildcats are 13-1 at home where they own an incredible +20 point differential this season. Arizona is averaging 83.9 points per game on 51.2% shooting from the field and 39.8% shooting from three-point land. The Wildcats’ defense is holding opponents to just 63.9 points per game on 40.8% shooting from the field and 29.4% shooting from three-point land. We’ll lay the points with Arizona in this game on Sunday night.
10* Play ARIZONA (-).
Expert:Steve Merril
Evaluation:Feb 14 - 8:00 PM
Star Rating:10.0
Reason For Pick:
USC has shocked the Pac 12 so far this season. The Trojans come into tonight’s game at Arizona with an 18-6 record, including a 7-4 mark in conference play. USC was picked to finish tenth in the Pac 12 over the summer because the team is loaded with youth and inexperience. But the Trojans have overachieved thus far, and tonight’s game against a revenge-minded Arizona team will be an extremely difficult challenge. USC will be playing on a back-to-back road set for the fifth time this season; they lost the second game of back-to-backs their four previous times. And those games came against much lesser competition like Monmouth-NJ, Washington, and Oregon State. The Trojans have lost their last three road games by an average of 10 points per game, and Arizona is a better team than all three of the opponents they played. USC’s defense is allowing 78.6 points per game on the road this season.
Arizona is on a 4-game winning streak after going just 3-4 over their previous seven games. One of those losses came at USC when the Trojans won 103-101 in overtime. That was a terrible spot for the Wildcats as they were playing their third straight road game while coming off a close loss at UCLA. Despite the poor spot, Arizona only lost by 2 points on USC’s home court. The difference in that game came at the free throw line where USC was +15 points (26-11) and +17 attempts (33-16). The Trojans won’t get a favorable whistle in tonight’s game, especially since they’ll be playing on Arizona’s strong home court. The Wildcats are 13-1 at home where they own an incredible +20 point differential this season. Arizona is averaging 83.9 points per game on 51.2% shooting from the field and 39.8% shooting from three-point land. The Wildcats’ defense is holding opponents to just 63.9 points per game on 40.8% shooting from the field and 29.4% shooting from three-point land. We’ll lay the points with Arizona in this game on Sunday night.
10* Play ARIZONA (-).
