Oklahoma State travels to unbeaten Arizona in hopes of another big-time Big 12 win on Saturday afternoon for a 3 p.m. CT tipoff on ESPN. The Cowboys (16-6, 4-5 Big 12) are coming off arguably their biggest win of the season, a 99-92 home win over BYU on Wednesday; Arizona (22-0, 9-0 Big 12) remains perfect at No. 1 entering the weekend after handing 13 on rival Arizona State last week. Here’s a preview, prediction, key storylines and updated odds for tomorrow’s contest in Tuscon, Arizona.
OKLAHOMA STATE VS. ARIZONA GAME ODDS
Arizona opened as a 21.5-pound favorite over the Cowboys, and remain as such with the over/under increasing by 1.0 point to 169.5 total.
KEY STORYLINE: WILL THE COWBOYS PLAY THE ROLE OF GIANT SLAYER?
Oklahoma State has won three of its last five, and a win over BYU is quite the feather in its cap entering Saturday’s matchup with easily the deepest team in college basketball. Arizona has been the unanimous No. 1 team in the AP Top 25 for eight consecutive weeks and lead the conference from the field and on the glass. Led by Anthony Roy, the Cowboys are putting the league’s second-best scoring offense to the test after putting on a show against the Cougars earlier this week in Stillwater.
MATCH UP TO WATCH: ROY AND BURRIES
The four-time transfer veteran Roy and Arizona draft prospect Brayden Burries will be a must-watch matchup at the perimeter. Roy dropped 30 points, including five triples, against BYU on Friday and will need those numbers this weekend if Oklahoma State wants to keep up with an Arizona offense averaging nearly 90 points per night.
PREDICTION: ARIZONA 91, OKLAHOMA STATE 84
The Cowboys have shot 48% or better between its two wins against Utah and BYU, and they’ll need to push that figure even higher this weekend in Tuscon. Arizona brings a lot to the frontcourt between Motiejus Krivas and Tobe Awaka, and that’ll make for quite the endurance test for Oklahoma State this weekend on the road in a loud venue. If Roy can stay hot, I think the Pokes can make this one interesting and ride their high into the weekend, but it’s going to take an Indiana Jones-type performance to hand Tommy Lloyd and the Cats their first regular-season loss on their home court.
