The Wildcats (14-5) are hoping that the January 27th Arizona at Oregon betting matchup goes better than their first game in the Beaver State this weekend. Tommy Lloyd’s club went to Corvallis on Thursday night and ended up losing to Oregon State 83-80, that’s the worst team in the conference and Arizona was a -18.5 favorite.
Oregon would love to complete the Pacific Northwest sweep of their rivals from the desert. The Ducks are +3.5 underdogs despite being 10-0 at home and owning a six game win streak against Arizona in Eugene. Despite most of the intangibles going Oregon’s way, 59% of the betting public are still backing the Wildcats.
Why Arizona Has Value at -3.5
The Wildcats were obviously looking ahead to this meeting with Oregon, completely ignoring the Beavers in Thursday night’s loss. Arizona hit on just 3-14 of their three point attempts and shot 21-31 from the free throw line and still only lost by 3 points, so even when they’re bad this team is still right in games.
Caleb Love had 20 points vs. Oregon State as he continues a torrid stretch of 20+ points in seven of his last nine games. Love has helped Arizona be the #2 scoring team in the country at 89.4 ppg and they’re also a top 15 team in the KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency.
Oregon doesn’t have anywhere near the offensive attack as Arizona, so if the Wildcats’ shots are hitting it may be hard for the Ducks to keep up even at home. Oregon is way down there at 30th in adjusted offensive efficiency, and they don’t have a single player averaging over 15 ppg.
Why Oregon Has Value at +3.5
There are worse bets on the Saturday college slate than a team that is 10-0 at home getting +3.5 points. Whether they hate the rain or Grunge music, Arizona struggles when they visit the PNW with six straight losses in Eugene, including last year’s 87-68 Oregon haymaker when the Wildcats were the #9 team in the country.
Arizona’s loss to last place Oregon State on Thursday is well documented, but that was also not their only recent struggles. UCLA had a 37-28 halftime lead last Saturday that they couldn’t hold on to in a 77-71 loss and the Wildcats lost 73-70 at Washington State the previous weekend as -7 point road favorites.
The Ducks have played four of their last six games on the road, so it’s nice to have a second straight contest in Eugene. OU will have to combat the effective scoring of Love, but Jermaine Couisnard has tallied 18+ in three of his last four while N’Faly Dante is averaging 19.5 ppg his last two as he looks healthy after returning from knee surgery two weeks ago.
Free January 27th Arizona at Oregon Betting Pick
Arizona is a good team that’s likely going to be angry after their embarrassing loss on Thursday – but they’re also playing their second straight road game with a short turnaround at a place that they’ve struggled at recently. Have to see the points here.
Free Pick: Oregon +3.5
