Utah vs Arizona Odds, Pick

The Arizona Wildcats made a statement on Thursday with a dominant win over an upstart Colorado club. However, they must now prove themselves again against another Pac-12 foe who appears to be on the rise.

The Utah Utes are 11-3 and have already played several quality teams. However, this matchup may be their most challenging to date as the Arizona Wildcats are still in the conversation to be the nation's top team.

Utah's ascension this season has come as a result of its efficiency on the offensive end of the floor. The Utes come into this matchup 23rd in adjusted offensive efficiency and have been scorching opponents from downtown.

The Utes are 18th in the country in 3-point percentage and will have the chance to improve on that as Arizona has been hurt by the deep ball and is 207th in 3-point percentage allowed.

However, a critical note about the Utes' perimeter shooting is that they've had success with not a ton of volume, as they are 233rd in the 3-point attempt to field goal attempt ratio. If the Wildcats can close out and force this to become a battle of the bigs on the inside, we could see a much lower number on the scoreboard from Utah than we're used to.

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What makes Arizona a title contender is its ability to attack from anywhere. The Wildcats have dominant size on the inside that can both snag rebounds and score.

Then, they have an experienced backcourt that has the ability to stretch the floor and drive to the hoop. They are a headache for opposing clubs, and what makes it even tougher is that they will get out on the break and score quickly, as they are ninth in tempo.

Now, the Utes are one of the rare teams that can match up with the Wildcats in the size department. Utah has yet to be tested with this much skill defensively, but its size may give it a chance at stifling Arizona.

Arizona's offensive explosion in its most recent game made quite an impression on oddsmakers, as this total is high. Add in the fact that we have yet to see a reason to disparage the Utes offense, and the number certainly makes sense.

However, this game has offensive regression written all over it. The Utes are due to regress from beyond the arc, and Arizona's bigs may be slowed down.

Take the under.

Pick: Under 166 (Play to 163.5)

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