So let’s start out with the in state rivalry between the No. 6 University of Arizona Wildcats (20-3, in Pac 12 at 8-2) and Arizona State University Sun Devils (12-11, in Pac 12 at 4-6) who played on the 7th of February at the Wells Fargo Arena located in Tempe Arizona, with the game tip off was at 4:30 PM ET and on Fox TV.
Now that we have left the time for American Football we again turn to Basketball and primarily we will preview and recap AP Top 25 games.
Wells Fargo Arena (AZ), Tempe, Arizona
The No. 6 Arizona was upset by their state rival Arizona State 78-81, hence they dropped to No. 7 in the AP Poll. In the 1st half of the game Arizona scored 34 points and ASU scored 41 points, in the second half Arizona outscored ASU 44 to 40 but it was a little too late for the Wildcats as lost to the Sun Devils. The leading performance in the game for the Wildcats was McConnell who scored 25 points, had 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Leading for the Sun Devils was Holder who had 15 points with 2 rebounds and some 8 assists. Off the bench Barnes scored 18 points for ASU and that include a late 3 pointer in the Sun Devils 2nd consecutive upset a home against state rivals Arizona.
The Sun Devils seem to be gaining ground on their rivalry with the Wildcats as in the last 8 seasons/years, they now have a 9-6 edge in that series since back in 2008, and that’s the upside as previously ASU only managed to win 24 of their 25 games with the Wildcats. The 81 points the Sun Devils scored in their upset over the Wildcats was the most points they have scored against a ranked team since back in 2005 and that was 90 points against Washington which was ranked 14th at the time.
This loss for the Wildcats was another loss on the road, and they have had previous road losses to UNLV, Oregon State and now ASU with their PAC 12 opponents. Now the skeptics are asking, do the Wildcats have enough depth and talent of make it to the Final 4 in March Madness? They appear to have plenty of talent, but their depth seems to be in question. So their loss on the road to ASU means their hopes of a No.1 seed, and that seems like a pipe dream with the strength of the other teams vying for a top seed.
This Sun Devils team had a lopsided loss back in January which they shook off, and in the game against their Pac 12 and state rival Wildcats 73-49 in Tucson, they out maneuvered their offense against one of the College basketball’s leading defensive to get good shot positioning and outscore their opponent.
If you Bet on College basketball at an Offshore sportbook or with a local, the Wildcats of Arizona play the Washington Huskies this coming Friday the 13th of February, while on the say day the Sun Devils of Arizona State play the Cougars of Washington State, both are Pac 12 conference games.