Arizona vs West Virginia Prediction College Basketball Picks 1/7/25

The Arizona Wildcats and the West Virginia Mountaineers meet Tuesday in college basketball action from WVU Coliseum. Here’s a West Virginia vs Arizona prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best West Virginia vs Arizona pick. We will examine:

The Arizona Wildcats’ recent form and player performance

The West Virginia Mountaineers’ recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Arizona Wildcats

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the West Virginia Mountaineers

Recent betting trends in games played between West Virginia and Arizona

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the West Virginia vs Arizona game

Arizona Wildcats Betting Preview

Arizona was looking good after a couple of games this year, taking wins over Canisius and Old Dominion in their first pair of outings. The Wildcats would hit a rough 2-5 stretch after that, however. Arizona beat only Davidson and Southern Utah in that time. Otherwise, it was losses versus Wisconsin, Duke, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and UCLA in the other quintet of outings. Since then the Wildcats have cleaned up their proverbial act and hit a four-game win streak. Those victories have come courtesy of Samford, Central Michigan, TCU, and Cincinnati.

In the Cincinnati game back on Saturday, the Wildcats came out of the locker room on a 39-26 edge. Arizona was outscored 41-33 in the second half but held on for a really nice win 72-67 against a talented Bearcats team. The top scorer for the Wildcats was Jaden Bradley, who scored 15 points, two boards, and two assists. Carter Bryant came off the bench to provide 14 points with four rebounds in 15 minutes, and Caleb Love added 12 points with six boards and two steals.

West Virginia Mountaineers Betting Preview

Over on the West Virginia side, they had a pretty good 4-1 start over their first five outings of the year. The Mountaineers lost to only Pittsburgh during that time, otherwise taking out Robert Morris, UMass, Iona, and Gonzaga. Following a loss to Louisville, West Virginia has since won seven straight games. Those victories have come versus Arizona, Georgetown, North Carolina Central, Bethune-Cookman, Mercyhurst, Kansas, and Oklahoma State for an 11-2 overall run.

In the Oklahoma State matchup on Saturday, the Mountaineers were looking spectacular after the first half, bagging a 46-19 start. West Virginia eased up and cruised the rest of the way for a 69-50 victory in the end after a 31-23 second. Leading team scorer Javon Small had a double-double on 24 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals. Jonathan Powell also finished in double-figures with 17 points and one board, while Amani Hansberry had six bench points.

Why the West Virginia Mountaineers will win

• West Virginia has won each of its last eight games at WVU Coliseum against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Arizona has lost four of its last five road games following a road win.
• Arizona has lost the first half in three of its last four games against AP-ranked opponents.

Why the Arizona Wildcats will win

• Arizona has won each of its last four games.
• West Virginia has lost six of its last seven night games against Conference opponents.
• West Virginia has lost the first half in eight of its last 10 night games against Conference opponents.

West Virginia vs Arizona Prediction

I’m going to stay with West Virginia. The Mountaineers were quite impressive in their win over a decent Oklahoma State team on Saturday. West Virginia notched a tepid shooting outing though, with 41.8 percent from the field and 12-of-20 (60 percent) from the line. The 40-38 rebounding advantage, 15 team assists and 20 points off 17 Cowboys turnovers made up for it, though. The Mountaineers haven’t been the highest-scoring team in the world lately with fewer than 70 points in three straight games. That said, WVU has held opponents to fewer than 62 points in six straight (all wins) and they’re controlling pace very well.

As for Arizona, they’re coming off a nice showing versus Cincinnati with 43.4 percent shooting from the field and 39.1 percent allowed on the other side. The Wildcats have 72 or more points in four straight, but they likely won’t be able to score so easily here. Arizona’s offense is going to have its hands full and I could see them coughing up a ton of turnovers versus a pesky Mountaineers D. Give me West Virginia in a relatively low-scoring outing overall.