The California Golden Bears (8-12, 4-5 Pac-12) are heavy underdogs against the No. 12'Arizona Wildcats (15-5, 6-3) Thursday night in Tucson. Tip-off at McKale Center is at 8:30 p.m. ET (Pac-112 Network). Below, we analyze FanDuel Sportsbook’s lines around the Cal vs. Arizona odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and best bets.
This will be the final regular-season matchup between these two schools as Pac-12 foes with Arizona heading to the Big-12 next season and Cal joining the ACC. In the 1st meeting back on Dec. 29, the Wildcats covered the 13.5-point spread, winning 100-81 on the road. Senior G Caleb Love led all Wildcats with 22 points.
Love, who was recently named as a finalist for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year award, is 3rd in the Pac-12 in scoring with 19.3 points per game. Only Washington F Keion Brooks Jr. and Cal G Jaylon Tyson'average more as both are scoring 20.6 PPG.
Arizona is the leading rebounding team in the conference (42.9 RPG) with senior C Oumar Ballo 3rd in the Pac-12 at 9.0 RPG. Once again, a Cal player leads the conference in a statistic as senior F Fardaws Aimaq is pulling down 10.8 RPG.