One team’s undefeated season will come to an end on Wednesday in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational Championship Game. Creighton (6-0) has gotten past Texas Tech and Arkansas to get them in this spot while Arizona (5-0) has beaten Cincinnati and San Diego State.
The Creighton vs Arizona betting matchup has a chance to be a high scoring one with both teams averaging over 84 ppg on this young season (O/U 164.5). The #10 Bluejays find themselves slight +2.5 underdogs against #14 Arizona for this 5:00 PM ET tip-off.
Will Fatigue Catch Up With Creighton?
The Maui Invitational had a tough field this year, but between Creighton and Arizona it’s been the Bluejays that have had the tougher path. Creighton beat #21 Texas Tech 76-65 in their opener and then had to outlasts #9 Arkansas 90-87 on Tuesday. The Razorbacks opened up the tournament with an 80-54 victory over Louisville so that’s an impressive win for Creighton.
Even though the Bluejays might be a bit tired playing their third game in three days, this is also a team that has shown some nice depth early on. In Tuesday’s game Ryan Nembhard led the way with 25 points but with Ryan Kalkbrenner adding 21 and Baylor Scheierman adding 20. All five Creighton starters scored in double figures vs. Texas Tech.
One thing you don’t like about Creighton’s win on Tuesday night was the fact they allowed 87 points to the Razorbacks. Arkansas only ranks 36th in the KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency, but Arizona is #1 in that metric as well as tempo.
Arizona Offense Impressive Early
It’s saying something that the Wildcats come into Creighton vs Arizona betting off their worst offensive production game of the season – and that it was an 87-70 win. UA had scored at least 95 points in their four previous victories, breaking the century mark three times already as they lead the country with 100.8 ppg.
The Wildcats had a lot of production to replace this season with Bennedict Mathurin (17.3 ppg), Christian Koloko, and Dalen Terry all off to the NBA. Azuolas Tubelis was the team’s leading returning scorer and he’s really stepped up his game this season averaging 20.8 ppg including a 30-point outing to lead the win over Cincinnati.
7-footer Oumar Ballo is averaging 16.8 points and 9.4 rebounds on the season and he’ll be a good defensive equalizer against Creighton’s 7’1 Kalkbrenner. This seems like a contest between two teams that really match up well against each other.
Free Creighton vs Arizona Betting Pick
Creighton is higher in the AP Top 25 than Arizona, but KenPom only considers the Blue Jays at #17 with the Wildcats 9th. The two big men cancel each other out in this game as do Tubelis/Scheierman and Nembhard / Kerr Kriisa. That leaves an opening for a solid X-factor, and it looks like Arizona has it in Courtney Ramey who has averaged 19 ppg in Maui – his first two games of the season. Give Arizona the edge here.
Free Pick: Arizona -2.5
