Arizona Wildcats vs California Golden Bears Prediction, 12/29/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Arizona Wildcats vs California Golden Bears

Date: Friday, December 29, 2023

Location: Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, CA

TV: PAC12

The California Golden Bears (4-7) are hosting the Arizona Wildcats (9-2) at Haas Pavilion on Friday.

The Arizona Wildcats took the court against Florida Atlantic and took a loss by a final of 96-95 in their last game. In reference to fouls, the Wildcats walked away with 20 and Florida Atlantic accumulated 24 fouls. They also converted 8 of their 24 attempts from 3-point land. Florida Atlantic shot 80.0% at the charity stripe by knocking down 16 of 20 attempts. Additionally, Florida Atlantic collected 32 rebounds (6 offensive, 26 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. Florida Atlantic totaled 11 assists and had 9 steals for the game. When it comes to defending, Arizona allowed the other team to go 50.0% from the field on 36 out of 72 shooting. They also recorded 18 assists in this matchup as well as creating 16 turnovers and getting 12 steals. Pertaining to grabbing boards, they collected a total of 50 with 22 of them being on the offensive end. From the charity stripe, the Wildcats converted 22 of 26 attempts for a rate of 84.6%. Arizona wrapped up the contest with a 38.8% field goal percentage (33 of 85) and knocked down 7 out of their 25 three-point attempts.

Caleb Love is someone who was a major contributor in the matchup. He recorded 26 points on 8 of 25 shooting. He was on the court for 40 minutes and grabbed 5 rebounds. He finished 32.0% from the floor and dished out 1 assist.

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Arizona will enter this game with a record of 9-2 so far this year. They lose possession by turning the ball over 12.7 times per game and as a group they commit 16.6 fouls per game. As a team, Arizona is grabbing 45.0 boards per game and has totaled 229 assists on the campaign, which ranks 12th in college basketball in terms of passing the ball. The Wildcats are hitting 36.6% on three-point attempts (85 of 232) and 75.0% from the free throw line. They average 92.5 pts per contest (2nd in the nation) while hitting 49.3% from the floor.

On defense, the Wildcats are forcing their opponents into 15.3 turnovers per contest and they draw 20.1 personal fouls. They rank 139th in college basketball in allowing assists to their opponents with 145 surrendered for the campaign. The Wildcats defensively are giving up a shooting percentage of 41.0% (285 of 695) and they surrender 30.5 rebounds per contest as a squad. They are surrendering 32.1% on 3-pointers and they rank 164th in D-1 in opponents points per game (70.3).

The last time they took the court, the California Golden Bears took home the win by a final score of 71-67 when they faced UC-San Diego. When discussing how they cleaned up the glass, California allowed UC-San Diego to snag 37 in all (10 offensive). They went 33.3% from beyond the arc by connecting on 11 out of 33 and ended up going 18 out of 25 at the free throw line (72.0%). The Golden Bears permitted UC-San Diego to convert 19 out of 57 attempts from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 33.3% for the game. When the final whistle blew, the Golden Bears finished 26 out of 54 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 48.1%. In relation to 3-point attempts, California made 10 out of 22 tries (45.5%). They were able to convert 9 of those for a clip of 50.0%. UC-San Diego was called for 15 personal fouls in this game which took the Golden Bears to the charity stripe for a total of 18 attempts. They gave up possession 9 times, while earning 9 steals for the matchup. The Golden Bears were able to corral 22 defensive rebounds and 5 offensive boards for a total of 27 for the contest.

Fardaws Aimaq ended up being a major contributor for the Golden Bears in the game. He accumulated 19 points in his 34 mins on the court and had 3 dimes in this matchup. He made 9 of 12 in this matchup for a field goal rate of 75.0%, and had 10 rebounds.

California has a mark of 4-7 this season. The Golden Bears are committing 18.0 personal fouls per contest while shooting 73.3% from the charity stripe. They are assisting teammates 11.6 times per contest (307th in college basketball) and they are giving up possession 13.3 times per contest. California has totaled 836 points for the year (76.0 per game) and they grab 37.6 boards per contest. As an offense, the Golden Bears are connecting on 44.0% from the field, which is ranked 223rd in the country.

The California defense surrenders 36.8% on shots from 3-point land (91 of 247) and their opponents are connecting on 75.9% of their shots from the charity stripe. They concede 11.5 assists and 32.7 rebounds per contest, which is 90th and 81st in those categories. The Golden Bears on the defensive side of the court are 295th in D-1 in points allowed per game with 75.9. They are forcing 10.5 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 44.0% from the floor (247th in the nation).

Who will win tonight's NCAA basketball game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Arizona

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