The No. 1 Arizona Wildcats continue to dominate the Pac-12 and are looking more and more like a national title favorite as the season wears on. Aaron Gordon and Nick Johnson have been dominant forces on the team and continue to show the nation that this season’s talent pool extends well beyond Jabari Parker and Andrew Wiggins. Arizona, however, will have a difficult task ahead of itself as the squad tries to navigate the talented waters of the Pac-12. The Wildcats will face in-state rival Arizona State on Thursday and then host the No. 21 Colorado Buffaloes a week later.

The Arizona State Sun Devils started out conference play with a 2-2 record and split games against UCLA and USC during their recent Los Angeles road trip. Arizona State has one more road game to play against the No. 1 team in the nation before hosing two home games against the Utah Utes and No. 21 Colorado. Let’s take a closer look at Thursday night’s matchup with predictions and analysis.

Arizona at Arizona State Betting Story Lines

The No.1 team in the nation has not only been winning games, but the squad has also performed well against the spread. Arizona is 12-4 ATS and has covered four of its last six matchups. The team is coming off two huge road wins against UCLA and USC last week and will now play three home games before heading back to California for two more Pac-12 matchups at the end of the month.

Arizona dominated USC in its last game to move to 17-0 and produce the best start in school history. Brandon Ashley and T.J. McConnell both had 19 points for the Wildcats as the team held the Trojans to only 53 points on 42-percent shooting from the field and only 20-percent shooting from beyond the arc. The key to Arizona’s dominant run so far has been its defense. The squad has not allowed more than 75 points once this season, and it has held its opponents to under 70 points in 15 out of 17 games.

Arizona State is 9-6 ATS and has its own impressive start to the season with a 13-4 record. The Sun Devils, however, split their first four conference matchups and are heading into Thursday in-state showdown with only a 2-2 record. The team averages 77.2 points per game, which is ranked 74th in the nation, and is being led by the 18.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists of sophomore, Jahii Carson.

The Sun Devils are coming off a 15-point blowout loss to the UCLA Bruins on Sunday, and they trailed by 17 points at halftime and were never really competitive in the matchup after the first 10 minutes of action. Overall, Arizona State a solid .472 from the field and is ranked 50th in the nation in assists with 15.3 per game.

Arizona at Arizona State NCAA Betting Odds and Key Trends

Arizona opened as an 11.5-point favorite over the underdog Sun Devils at BetOnline. The Wildcats are 6-0 ATS during their most recent Thursday games and 13-3 over their last 16 games against teams with a winning record of .600 or better. The team is also 14-4 ATS over its last 18 home games and 17-5 ATS following a SU win. The Wildcats are also 5-2 ATS against the Pac-12, 9-3 ATS following an ATS win and 19-7 over their last 26 overall games.

Arizona State is 5-2 ATS during its last seven overall games and 13-3-1 ATS over its last 17 games following an ATS loss. The team is also 5-2 ATS over its last seven games against teams with winning SU records. Head-to-head, the “under” is 4-1 in the last five meetings, while the favorite has the same record over the last five matchups. Arizona State is 1-4 ATS during the last five overall games played.

Free College Basketball Picks: Arizona at Arizona State Predictions

Arizona has covered five of its last seven double-digit lines and beat the Sun Devils by 15 and 17 points in last season’s matchups. Usually a double-digit spread between in-state rivals is a good spot to wager on the underdog, but the Wildcats are excellent defensively and will look to keep Arizona State in the mid-to-low 50s. Arizona, on the other hand, should be able to score near its average of 75 points per game. Expect Arizona’s excellent perimeter shooting to be the difference in this game. Take the Wildcats minus the points.

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Read more articles by George Monroy