No 3 Ranked Arizona Wildcats to be Tested on the Road at UNLV
The No. 3 ranked Arizona Wildcats take to the road to face the UNLV Rebels on Tuesday.
Arizona is 12-0 SU and 5-5 ATS. The Wildcats are 2-0 on the road.
UNLV is 7-3 SU and 3-6 ATS. At home, the Rebels are 5-1.
The current line has Arizona favored by 13 points.
Arizona defeated eight opponents at home this season by an average of almost 23 points but was tested on a neutral court when they won the Maui Invitational last month.
This past Friday, Arizona won its first game on the road this season against UTEP 60-55, which was their 39th straight non-conference win which leads Division I. Prior to the game, the Miners had won 34 of their past 41 home games.
Arizona had 17 turnovers in that game and hit just 15 of their 26 shots from the free throw line.
However, they forced 18 UTEP turnovers and held the Miners to just 41% shooting.
Sean Miller the Arizona head coach said his players made plays when they needed to. He called the Arizona win a huge test for his players.
Not since December of 2011 has Arizona lost a non-conference regular season game.
Stanley Johnson a freshmen led the Wildcats with 17 points
Arizona will open Pac-12 conference play on January 4 against Arizona State. However, first they must play at UNLV where they are just 1-7 in their past 9 games.
UNLV are attempting to avoid dropping to 0-4 against opponents from the Pac-12. Thus far, this season, the Rebels have lost to Stanford 89-60, Arizona State 77-55 and Utah 59-46.
Dave Rice the UNLV coach was pleased with how his team held Utah to only four boards on the offensive end after the team had been allowing 14 per game.
Rebounding against Arizona will be a critical part of the game for UNLV. The Wildcats are averaging a differential of plus-8.3 in rebounding on the season.
Arizona will face one of the best freshmen in the nation when they take on UNLV. Rashad Vaughn has averaged 24.5 points scored in four games played at home.
Vaughn has struggled against opponents from the Pac-12. He is hitting just 13 of his 36 shots from the floor with an average of just 11 points per game.
UNLV has lost 11 of its past 12 games played against teams from the top-10, but leads the all time series against Arizona 11-7.
Pick: Arizona is much stronger on the boards than UNLV and will be able to shut down Vaughn. The Wildcats offense will overpower the defense of UNLV allowing for many good looks at the hoop and second chances thanks to a dominating presence on the boards. I like Arizona to win easily 75-52.
