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The best college basketball team in action on Thursday night is No. 10 Arizona of the Pac-12 as the Wildcats host a very capable Colorado team – both will be headed to the Big 12 next year. The Cats are double-digit favorites on the NCAAB odds off a shockingly bad loss. 2024 NCAA Basketball Betting & Expert Analysis Colorado vs. #10 Arizona | MyBookie Sportsbook Week 9 NCAAB

How to Bet Colorado at Arizona NCAA Basketball Odds & TV Info

When: Thursday, 9:30 PM ET
Where: McKale Center
TV: ESPN
Stream: ESPN+
Radio: Tunein.com
Opening NCAAB Lines: Arizona -11.5 (total 163)

Last Meeting

The teams will play twice this season in the regular season but just once last year and Arizona won 78-68 at home. Oumar Ballo had 18 points and 16 rebounds, and Cedric Henderson Jr. added 15 points to lead the Cats. Those two helped Arizona outscore Colorado 40-24 in the paint. Tristan da Silva had 18 points for Colorado, which shot 38% — the Buffs actually made seven of their first 11 shots to take an early 12-point lead but then went cold. Arizona hit 17 of 32 shots and didn’t have a turnover the final 15 1/2 minutes of the first half to lead 46-34.

This will be the 41st meeting between Colorado and Arizona with the Wildcats holding a 24-16 series lead.

Why Bet on Colorado Buffaloes?

The Buffs won their sixth straight game on Sunday by a score of 74-67 over Washington State. After trailing by 12 points early in the second half, the Cougars cut the deficit to two on five occasions but each time Colorado responded, four times by KJ Simpson. Myles Rice got the Cougars within 65-64 on two free throws with 3:24 remaining. But WSU’s next four possessions ended with three turnovers and a blocked shot as the Buffaloes pulled away. Simpson scored a career-high 34 points on 10-for-18 from the floor and 13-for-14 from the free throw line.

Colorado Last 5

vs Washington St. – W74-67

vs Washington – W73-69

vs Utah Tech – W98-71

vs Colorado – W90-68

vs Miami – W90-63

“I talked to KJ early in the season about the fact that it’s going to be important for him to recognize night to night what he has to do to help the team win,” Coach Tad Boyle said. “There’s nights it might be getting 8 to 10 to 12 assists. Friday (against Washington) he had 10 rebounds. Tonight we needed him to score and he went and got 34. He has solidified himself as one of the great point guards in Colorado basketball history.”

J’Vonne Hadley added 12 points, four rebounds and three assists and Eddie Lampkin Jr. chipped in 10 points. The Buffs, once again without Tristan da Silva and Cody Williams (injuries), improved to 11-2 overall and 2-0 in Pac-12 play with their sixth straight win. It’s CU’s first 2-0 start in conference play since the 2014-15 season.

Colorado shot 50 percent from the floor (24-for-48) while the Cougars were right behind at 28-for-58. But the Buffs hit 22 of 26 free throws while the Cougars hit six of their eight charity tries. CU also had a 22-15 edge in points off turnovers and the Buffs won the rebound battle, 30-28.

The Buffs continue to receive votes for the Top 25 (they were ranked 18th early in the season). Simpson leads the Pac-12 in scoring (21.08 ppg) and is fourth in the conference in assists (4.54 apg), third in steals (2.08 spg) and free throw percentage (.872), second in 3-point percentage (.471) and fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio.

Colorado is one of the top all-around shooting teams in the country, ranking in the top 12 nationally in all three percentage categories: overall field goal, 3-point and free throws. The Buffaloes are fourth in the nation in overall shooting at 51.8 percent, rank sixth in 3-point percentage (.408) and 12th from the line (.780).

The six-game winning streak is the program’s best since a six-game run late in the 2020-21 NCAA Tournament season. The win over Washington State gave Colorado a perfect 6-0 record in December, the first time going undefeated in the 12th month since 2005-06 (also 6-0).

Colorado has lost 13 in a row at Arizona: “It’s packed. Everyone’s right there. It’s loud. It’s a fun environment to play in,” CU guard Julian Hammond III said. “It’s huge for sure. They’re a great team. They’re the favorites to win (the Pac-12), so going down there and beating them in their building would be huge for us and our confidence. We haven’t had our full team, so it would be huge to go down there and win.”

Bet Colorado to Win
MyBookie Betting Lines for NCAAB

Why Bet on Arizona Wildcats?

Arizona was upset 100-82 at Stanford on Sunday, which dropped the Cats from No. 4 to No. 10 in the new AP poll. The Wildcats’ second loss in three games allowed a bunch of teams to jump ahead of them: Kentucky climbed two spots to sixth, Marquette moved up three spots to seventh, North Carolina rose to eighth and Illinois climbed two spots to ninth.

Arizona Last 5

@ Stanford – L100-82

@ California – W100-81

vs FAU – L96-95

vs Alabama – W87-74

vs Purdue – L92-84

The Cardinal led wire-to-wire and broke the school record for made 3-pointers, going 16-for-25 (64 percent) and shot a season-best 58.1 percent from the floor. The performance marked the first time that any Division I team has shot 64% or better with 16 or more made 3s against a team ranked fourth or better since West Virginia accomplished the feat against No. 4 Louisville in the 2005 Elite 8 (18/27, 66.7%).Stanford scored 100 points for the first time since Feb. 16, 2019, and the 31st time in program history. The Cardinal led by double-digits for the last 18:26.

Arizona struggled to find its rhythm in the first half, shooting 41.2% from the field and 25% from long distance and really the game was over. Caleb Love led Arizona (10-3) with 23 points and center Oumar Ballo added 12 points and seven rebounds.

Love leads Arizona at 17.4 points per game and is tied with Oumar Ballo tops the Wildcats in rebounding (8.2 rpg) and field goal percentage (.637) while averaging 13.2 points per contest. Pelle Larsson is averaging a career-best 12.1 points and shooting 50% from the 3-point line this season (12 of 24). He’s scored in double figures 11 of 13 games and has 16 assists to just three turnovers in the last four games. Ballo enters this game with 979 career points between his time at Arizona and Gonzaga. Larsson has 975 career points in his time between Utah and Arizona.

UA leads the Pac-12 in scoring (92.3) while ranking second in field goal percentage (.495) and fourth in 3-point shooting (.362). And the Wildcats have done it while playing a much more demanding nonconference schedule than the Buffs.

“When you play at Arizona, you’ve got to try to keep them out of a rhythm offensively,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “Your defense has to be rock-solid. It starts when you have the ball by taking care of the ball and not having live-ball turnovers. Which turn into dunks and layups, which gets the crowd into it. And taking great shots. Having great shot selection and taking care of the ball on offense helps you get your defense set. Once your defense is set, hopefully you take them out of rhythm.”

The Wildcats have been ranked 45 straight weeks and 45 out of 48 weeks under head coach Tommy Lloyd. They have been in the Top 10 for 36 weeks and in the Top 5 for 21 weeks. Lloyd is in his third season with the Wildcats and has a record of 71-14, the third-most wins of any team in the country over that span. Under Lloyd, Arizona has recorded 20+ assists in 45 out of 85 games to lead the nation.

The Arizona offense has recorded a 10-0 run 17 times through 12 games this season, tied with Houston and Miami (FL) for the most in the country. The Cats are 13-0 in games following a loss under Lloyd all-time, winning by an average of 20.5 ppg.

Arizona holds a 14-3 all-time lead against Colorado in Tucson. The Buffaloes’ last win at Arizona came on Dec. 20, 1965. Colorado is 1-1 against ranked teams this season.

Bet Clemson to Win
MyBookie Betting Lines for NCAAB