Northwestern vs Arizona State Odds, Pick for Wednesday

No. 25 Northwestern and Arizona State meet on the hardwood in Phoenix on Tuesday in the Jerry Colangelo Hall of Fame Series.

The Wildcats are in the AP Poll for the second consecutive season, with an 8-2 record, including a win over then-No. 1 Purdue. Meanwhile, the Sun Devils have battled a difficult non-conference schedule to own a 6-4 record.

Here's Northwestern vs Arizona State odds and a pick for Wednesday.

After a six-year hiatus from the Big Dance, Chris Collins guided his program back to the tournament last season and picked up a postseason win.

The Wildcats hope to make the NCAA tournament in back-to-back seasons for the first time in the school’s history.

The key performer for Collins has been Boo Buie. The veteran guard ranks in the top five in the Big Ten in multiple offensive categories, including scoring (18.1 PPG) and assists (5.0 APG).

With Brooks Barnhizer and Ryan Langborg also averaging double figures, Collins has the talent to make another run in March.

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If Bobby Hurley wants his team to play in the postseason, the Sun Devils need to start picking up wins. One of the issues has been the difficult schedule before conference play.

Coming into this contest, Arizona State’s schedule is ranked 58th in the country by KenPom. Hurley’s squad has played three Quad 1 opponents through 10 games.

Hurley is also working with a new roster, with 11 newcomers coming into the program in the offseason.

Of the returnees, one standout performer on the defensive end has been Frankie Collins, who's emerged as one of the best perimeter defenders in the country.

Collins leads the Pac-12 and is in the top five in the nation in steals per game at 3.2.

Before you start to break down this matchup, you have to point out that this won’t be a true neutral-site game, with Arizona State’s campus just 10 miles from the Footprint Center.

Because of this, I see big trends in home and road splits for both schools. So, my best bet is to take Arizona State at +5, which I would bet to +4.

Northwestern has only left the state of Illinois for two games this season. The Wildcats defeated a Rhode Island team ranked outside the top 200 by KenPom and lost to Mississippi State in the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament in Connecticut.

Meanwhile, the Sun Devils’ best performances have come at home, where they’re undefeated with wins over San Francisco and SMU. Those two squads are rated evenly with Northwestern.

Arizona State was also the betting favorite in both of those contests. This is a pretty big swing to make the Sun Devils the underdog by multiple possessions on the spread.

There's also a big difference in the strength of schedule for both squads. The Wildcats’ SOS is ranked 288th by KenPom compared to ASU being in the top 60.

I just feel like this line is a bit of an overreaction to some of Arizona State’s recent performances, which came away from home. I like the underdog here to potentially spring an upset.

Pick: Arizona State +5 (Play to +4)

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