Ryan Wohl gives his college basketball analysis and pick for tonight’s Big 12 tournament championship between Houston vs. Arizona.
For the second straight year, the Arizona Wildcats and the Houston Cougars will face off in the Big 12 tournament championship. Last year, Houston beat Arizona 72-64 to win the Big 12 tournament, but this time the Wildcats enter the contest as the No. 1 seed in the bracket. The Wildcats beat the Cougars 73-66 in their lone matchup of the season on February 21. Houston beat Kansas 69-47 in the semifinals of this tournament, while Arizona picked up a two-point victory over Iowa State on Friday.
The Arizona Wildcats are favored by -1.5 while the Houston Cougars are +120 to pull off the upset on DraftKings Sportsbook. Check out my best bet for tonight’s Big 12 tournament championship between Arizona and Houston.
Houston vs. Arizona (6:00 p.m. ET)
Since their first matchup this season, Arizona has gone 6-0 while Houston is 5-1 in that span. Arizona has three players with at least 16 points against Houston, with Anthony Dell’Orso leading the way with 22. The Wildcats held the Cougars to 36 percent from the field and 31 percent from three-point range. Houston’s veteran guard duo of Milos Uzan and Emmanuel Sharp combined for 23 points on only 5-19 shooting from the field.
After trailing Iowa State for the majority of the game on Friday, Arizona bounced back and showed its resilience. Jaden Bradley received a lot of backlash for winning Big 12 player of the year, but he proved why he is worthy with a game-winning buzzer beater against the Cyclones. Arizona sharpshooter Dell’Orso caught fire once again, scoring 26 points with six three-pointers in their last contest. Freshman Ivan Kharchenkov has been an under-the-radar impact player for Arizona lately, recording double-digit points in four of his last five contests.
Houston also has one of the best freshmen in the country, Kingston Flemings, who has scored 17 and 21 points in his two games in the Big 12 tournament. Both teams in this game possess elite defenses, providing an enormous amount of physicality and toughness. But Arizona’s offense remains the difference in this contest. Houston has scored 69 and 73 points in this tournament, and that will not be enough to beat Arizona.
The Wildcats scored 82 against Iowa State while Koa Peat, Brayden Burries, and Motiejus Krivas combined for 14 points. It is highly unlikely all three of them will continue to struggle, which will take the Wilecats’ offense to another level. Even though Arizona is 1-0 against Houston this season, they still seem hungry to finish the job and get revenge on Houston from last year’s Big 12 tournament championship loss. Bradley proved once again on Friday that if it is a close game with little time left, he has what it takes to lead Arizona to victory.
College Basketball Pick: Arizona -1.5 (-118)