The No. 1-ranked Arizona Wildcats return home to McKale Center to host the Kansas State Wildcats at 9:00 p.m. ET. Arizona has gone undefeated in its first 14 games of the season. Kansas State is coming off an 83-73 loss against BYU and is 9-5 overall on the year. Kansas State is 9-6 against Arizona in their all-time series. This is the first meeting between Arizona and Kansas State in Tucson since December 1980.
Check out my best bet for tonight’s Arizona vs. Kansas State contest below. On DraftKings Sportsbook, Arizona is -17.5 with the over/under being 172.5 points.
Kansas State vs. Arizona (9:00 p.m. ET)
Arizona most recently beat Utah by 19 points, which was their first win by fewer than 20 points since November 19. Before their victory against Utah, Arizona won eight consecutive games by at least 21 points. Arizona has been so consistent and dominant this season because of its team’s versatility.
This season, Arizona’s star freshman duo, Koa Peat and Brayden Burries, are their top two scorers. Peat averages 14.4 points with 5.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. Burries is recording 14.2 points, 3.8 boards, 2.4 assists, and 1.6 steals per contest. Along with Peat and Burries, Arizona has two more freshman contributors with Ivan Kharchenkov and Dwayne Aristode. Veterans Jaden Bradley, Motiejus Krivas, and Tobe Awaka provide a ton of experience and high-level play for Arizona.
Kansas State has the fourth leading scorer in the country with P.J. Haggerty, who averages 21 points per game. Their next three scorers are all guards (David Castillo, Adbi Bashir Jr., and Nate Johnson). Kansas State is 5-5 in its previous 10 games. They have offensive upside but lack consistency when playing elite opponents.
Arizona has the fourth-best average scoring margin (23.7) in college basketball this season. They have only two victories by 17 points or fewer this season. The first one came against one of Arizona’s biggest rivals, UCLA, which they beat by four points. Arizona only beat UConn by four points, but it was on the road. Now, Arizona is back on its home floor against a mediocre Kansas State team. Arizona will eventually be in another close game, but it doesn’t seem like Kansas State has enough depth to keep up with them for 40 minutes.
