Arizona vs. Gonzaga: 2019-20 college basketball game preview, TV schedule
By Neil Adler
Two of the premier teams in the West will tussle in Tucson on Saturday night when Arizona welcomes Gonzaga to town for a terrific non-conference encounter.
TV schedule: Saturday, December 14, 10:00 pm ET. ESPN2.
Arena: McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz.
A top-15 showdown with bragging rights in the West is on the line as No. 6 Gonzaga and No. 15 Arizona battle on Saturday evening from the McKale Center. The Bulldogs (10-1) and the Wildcats (10-1) are two high-octane offensive units, each of which has started off the 2019-20 campaign with a solid showing.
For Gonzaga, the Bulldogs have a pair of impressive conquests to date in the current stanza, besting Oregon on a neutral court and Washington on the road. Gonzaga’s sole loss in 2019-20 is to highly rated Michigan at a neutral site.
Arizona’s calendar so far features successes versus groups such as Illinois, Pennsylvania and Wake Forest, and the Wildcats’ only setback in the present term came at Baylor, which is a really good crew, by five points.
There are tons of similarities between Arizona and the Bulldogs from a statistical perspective. They both average about 86 points per contest, with the Wildcats allowing 63.2 points and Gonzaga giving up just a tad more at 65.0 points. Assists, blocks, steals and turnovers committed are nearly identical, but the Bulldogs hold a roughly five-board edge on the glass.
Arizona will have to contain Gonzaga’s offensive-rebounding prowess and limit the Bulldogs as it pertains to second-chance points if the Wildcats want to emerge victorious in front of their home crowd.
From the field, Gonzaga and Arizona each hover around 50 percent, and both also connect on better than 38 percent from beyond the arc. The Wildcats have a sizable advantage from the charity stripe, though.
ESPN’s Basketball Power Index says that Arizona has a 69.1 percent probability to prevail, and odds-makers in Las Vegas are anointing the Wildcats as 3.5-point favorites.
Still, the Bulldogs have captured 10-consecutive true road affairs, the longest active achievement across the country, per this press release. That’s mighty darn remarkable.
Gonzaga and Arizona are engaging for the 10th occasion, with the Wildcats ahead 6-3, yet the Bulldogs have snagged the past two bouts, including 91-74 a season ago. It’s challenging to differentiate this duo of heavyweights, in my humble opinion.
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On the one hand, Arizona is a perfect 7-0 at home. Conversely, Gonzaga is a beast away from its own turf. Ultimately, I believe that the Bulldogs’ potential dominance on the boards will carry them to a fantastic triumph in the desert.
Prediction: Gonzaga 77 – Arizona 72