Our USC vs. Arizona prediction based on the best college basketball odds believes Bronny James will break out of his recent offensive slump on Wednesday.
The Arizona Wildcats hope a home meeting with the USC Trojans will help the once top-ranked team in the country get back on track. Arizona is coming off a 73-70 loss to Washington State, marking its fourth defeat in the last eight games. Tommy Lloyd's team is now 12-3 on the year and just 3-2 in Pac-12 play.
Fortunately for the Wildcats, the Trojans are struggling even more. They have lost two in a row and are 2-4 to begin league action. USC, which entered the year with some level of preseason expectations with Bronny James and a talented roster, is now 8-9 overall and ranked 73rd on Kenpom.
Here is our best USC vs. Arizona prediction and our college basketball picks (odds via our best March Madness betting sites; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).
USC vs. Arizona prediction
Whenever Bronny James performs poorly, there is no shortage of social media posts to tell you about his struggles. James made his first start against Colorado last time out, finishing with 0 points on 0-for-7 shooting in 25 minutes during a 68-58 loss. James is now in a 0-for-14 shooting slump over his last three games.
While most bettors might look at his recent form and take this Under, which is also -115 at FanDuel, I see that as a sign that James is due for some positive regression in the shooting department. At the very least, he should have another opportunity to get plenty of minutes in what could be a blowout.
According to Luca Evans of the Orange County Register, Boogie Ellis (hamstring) and Joshua Morgan (respiratory infection) are day-to-day for the Trojans. If Ellis is out again on Wednesday, James will likely make his second consecutive start at point guard.
If that's the case, we are getting decent value on James to clear this scoring prop. It's similar to what this line was set at when he was a reserve earlier in the year. James cleared this mark in three of his first six collegiate games before this recent stretch, which includes a pair of double-digit scoring outputs.
Be a hater and root against James because of his name, but I'm taking a discount on a potential starter for USC. We will see who has the last laugh in the end.
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USC vs. Arizona best odds
| DraftKings | FanDuel | BetMGM | Caesars | bet365 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N/A | Over 5.5 points | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | -115 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
FanDuel is the only one of our best sports betting apps to offer odds for James in this game, making our decision to shop there pretty simple. We wouldn't pay more than -120 to take Over 5.5 points for James, but thankfully these odds will likely hold steady at -115.
USC vs. Arizona odds
USC vs. Arizona odds analysis
The market has moved the betting lines quite a bit in this game, with the spread climbing from Arizona -16.5 to -19 across our best sports betting sites. The total opened at 163 before dropping down to 158.5 at most of the best sportsbooks.
USC vs. Arizona game info
- When: Wednesday, Jan. 17 at 10 p.m. ET
- Where: McKale Center, Tucson, AZ
- How to watch: ESPN
USC-Arizona prediction made Wednesday at 1:10 p.m. ET.
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