Henry Roldán
The day of the Sweet 16 on Thursday, March 24 will close with a duel that promises to draw sparks when Houston faces Arizona. The Cougars, the nation’s fifth seed, walked the first two rounds thanks to their well-known balance on both sides of the court and in the second round they won, 68-53, to Illinois. For its part, Arizona, first seed in the South, has not had that good performance expected of a favorite and in the second round needed extra time to defeat, 80-85, TCU, ninth seed in the Conference.
Picks and Predictions for the Houston Cougars vs Arizona Wildcats NCAA Basketball Championship Sweet 16 Game on March 24
- Where: AT&T Center – San Antonio, Texas
- When: Thursday, March 24, 9:59 PM ET
- Betting Line: Houston Cougars (+2) vs Arizona Wildcats (-2)
Houston Cougars Betting Preview
- Overall Record: 29-5
- Conference Record: 29-5
- Spread: +2
- Over/Under: Over 145
- Moneyline: +110
The Cougars are a highly balanced team, they are the best in the nation in defensive efficiency and only three times in their last 17 games have they scored less than 70 points. For that reason Houston has not had major problems in this March Madness and hopes to continue with its good performance against an Arizona team that has generated many doubts despite losing only three games in the season.
For Houston, the key will be in the defensive pressure they can exert with the mission of stealing balls and forcing losses to an Arizona team that has 64 losses in the last four games. The Cougars are third in the nation in steals and scamming a few on Thursday can make the Wildcats very difficult. In fact, stealing balls should be Houston’s number one goal if we take into account that its other defensive strength, which is taking rebounds, must be overtaken by an Arizona team that is one of the best in the NCAAB in this aspect and that far exceeds them in size.
Precisely when we talk about that balance we have to comment that the Houston offense seems to have a different hero every night, with Kyler Edwards and Taze Moore being the most outstanding in the first two rounds. In the first game Edwards recorded 25 goals and four players added at least double digits, while in the second Morre reaped 21 and three players scored at least 10 points.
Arizona Wildcats Betting Preview
- Overall Record: 32-3
- Conference Record: 32-3
- Spread: -2
- Over/Under: Over 145
- Moneyline: –130
Turnovers have been a serious problem for the Wildcats at the end of the season and against a team as balanced as Houston, which is able to make you pay the slightest mistake, watering possessions is the worst thing Arizona can do.
While his focus should be on keeping the ball in his hands, it looks like there will be nothing more important to the No. 1 seed than winning the duel under the boards. The Cougars dominated the paint in their first two games, but Arizona is one of the best teams grabbing rebounds in the nation and in height they far outperform Houston. While TCU put them in trouble in that regard, Houston isn’t the same size as the latter and it’s surely something the Wildcats will try to exploit.
For this commitment the offensive figure to follow is Bennedict Mathurin. The Arizona point guard continues to honor his AWARD as player of the year in the PAC-12 and in March Madness he has finished with his rivals. In the first round he recorded 18 points, while before that TCU was the man who tied the game with 13 seconds left in the second quarter and in overtime charged the team to finish with 30 points. Along with Mathurin you have to follow closely Christian Koloko, the center of Arizona and figure of the rebounds, who in the first two games finished with double-double and against TCU scored 28 goals.
JefeBet Prediction
Although several teams play very good defense and a close game is expected, it is very strange to see Houston score less than 70 points just like Arizona. Their attacks are powerful and for that reason I think there won’t be much advantage between the two, but a good amount of scoring. The Over of this game is not very high and I think both teams will go out to look for points from early to try to make a difference.
