Washington vs Arizona | Prediction & Pick

NCAA Basketball Free Pick – Saturday, March 12, 2011

PAC-10 Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship

vs.

Washington Huskies vs. Arizona Wildcats
Saturday, March 12, 2011 at 6:00 PM EST on CBS

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The No. 3 seed Washington Huskies will try and try and successfully defend their 2010 title when they face the No.1 seed Arizona Wildcats in this year’s 2011 PAC-10 Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship this afternoon at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. (ET) and the game will be broadcast nationally on CBS.

Washington’s path to the title game started on Thursday with a thrilling 89-87 victory over No.6 seed Washington State in the quarterfinals as a 5 ½-point favorite. The Huskies followed this up with lopsided 69-51 win over No. 7 seed Oregon as an eight-point favorite in Friday’s semifinals. The win over the Cougars avenged an 80-69 loss as a 12-point favorite on Feb.26. They also redeemed themselves for an 81-76 loss to the Ducks as an eight-point road favorite earlier that month.

Junior guard Isaiah Thomas scored a team-high 21 points in the win over Washington State as the Huskies survived a 43-point barrage by Cougars’ guard Klay Thompson which included eight 3-pointers. Freshman guard Terrence Ross was Washington’s second leading scorer with 17 points and senior forward Justin Holiday pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.

The win over the Ducks was not nearly as contentious as Washington established an 11 point lead at the half and put the game away for good with an 8-0 run down the stretch. Three Huskies scored in double-figures led by freshman guard C.J. Wilcox’s 14 points. Ross was second with 13 points and Thomas dished out a game-high 12 assists to help pace the win.

Arizona pushed its way to the finals with a 78-69 win over No.9 seed Oregon State as an 11-point favorite in the quarterfinals followed by a 67-62 victory over No.4 seed USC as a one-point underdog in the semifinals. It was the first time the Wildcats won as an underdog since beating Washington State 65-63 on Jan.22 as a 2 ½-point road dog.

Sophomore forward Derrick Williams led the way in the win over Beavers with 22 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore guard-forward Kevin Parrom tallied 13 points and four assists and sophomore forward Solomon Hill had 11 rebounds to round out the strong performance by the trio of second-year players.

Williams kept things going against the Trojans with a team-high 20 points and six rebounds. Junior forward Jesse Perry was the second leading scorer for the Wildcats with 11 points and senior forward Jamelle Horne added eight points off the bench in the winning effort. Arizona shot 42.1 percent from three-point range as compared to USC’s 27.8 percent completion rate.

Washington is 1-4 ATS in its last five games and the total has stayed ‘under’ in four of its last five games. Arizona is 1-6 ATS in its last seven games and the total has stayed ‘under’ in four of its last six games.

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Head-to-head, the Huskies have won three of the last five games SU, but the Wildcats are 3-2 ATS. The total has gone ‘over’ in five of the last six meetings. In the first meeting between the two this season, Washington came out on top 85-68 as a 10-point home favorite. Arizona squeaked out an 87-86 win the second time around as a 2 ½-point home favorite.

The rubber match for the tournament title should live up to its billing as the Huskies add to their trophy collection with a victory over Arizona in a close, hard-fought battle to the end.

The Pick: Washington 81-79

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