Pac-10 Battle: A look at Stanford-Arizona St

Stanford Cardinal at Arizona St Sun Devils, Wells Fargo Arena, Tempe, AZ
Thursday, January 6, 2011, 8:30 pm Eastern, TV: Fox Sports Arizona
Opening Line: Arizona St -5
Current Line: Arizona St -4 1/2
Opening Total: 122 1/2
Current Total: 122
Money Line: ASU -210 / Stanford +175

Arizona St is a 4 1/2 point favorite against Pac 10 rival Stanford in Tempe.

The 8-4 Stanford Cardinals travel to Tempe to take on the 8-5 Arizona St Sun Devils. Stanford is 1-0 in conference play after beating rival Cal 82-68 last weekend. Arizona St split with the two Oregon teams losing 80-58 at Oregon St and winning at Oregon 60-55. For the season, the Cardinal has losses to Murray St & Tulsa in a tournament in Anaheim, and Stanford also lost at Butler and Oklahoma St. Stanford has wins over Virginia and Depaul on the year. Arizona St has losses to New Mexico, St. John’s, Baylor and Richmond. The Sun Devils have wins over UAB, Nevada, and Long Beach St. The victory over Oregon is probably the best win of the season for the Sun Devils. ASU has only played 5 home games so far this season, which the fewest among major conference schools. Stanford leads the overall series 39-30. Arizona St swept the regular season series, but lost to Stanford in the Pac 10 tournament 70-61. Four of the last five games in the series have gone over the total. Arizona St is 14-24 ATS in all games the last 3 seasons and 2-9 in games against teams allowing 64 points or fewer a game.

Stanford is outscoring opponents 68-61 on the season. They shoot 44.5% from the field and 37.8% from 3 point range. Stanford opponents are shooting 40.8% from the field. The Cardinal shoot 64.6% from the free throw line. Junior guard Jeremy Green is the team’s leading scorer with 16.8 points a game. He is shooting 46.2% from 3-point range. Junior forward/center Josh Owens leads the Cardinals in rebounds with 6.3 a game, steals with 1.2 a game, and blocks with 0.9 a game. He also scores 11.3 ppg. Freshman point guard Aaron Bright leads the team in assists with 2.3 a game. The Cardinal average 34.9 rebounds a game and have a rebounding margin of +4.6. They average 11.3 assists and 13.6 turnovers a game. The Cardinal force 15.5 turnovers a game on defense. Stanford only averages 5.1 steals and 3.7 blocks a game.

Arizona St sophomore guard Trent Lockett is listed as probable against Stanford. He missed the Oregon trip with a toe injury. He is the Sun Devil’s leading scorer with 14.7 points, and also averages 6.5 rebounds, and 2.7 assists a game. Senior guard Ty Abbott averages 12.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.5 assists a game. Senior guard/forward Rihards Kuksiks is averaging 10.2 points a game. Freshman forward Kyle Cain leads the team in rebounds with 7.8 a game. Senior point guard Jamelle McMillan leads the team in assists with 4.5 a game and steals with 1.8 a game. The Sun Devils play a lot of close games and are only outscoring opponents 64-63 on the season. The Sun Devils are shooting 42.5% from the field and 32.9% from 3-point range. ASU opponents are shooting 40.9% from the field. ASU only makes 63.7% of their free throws. They average 34.8 rebounds and have a rebounding margin of +0.2. The Sun Devils average 15.3 assists and 13.2 turnovers a game. They force13.5 turnovers a game on defense. ASU averages 6.4 steals and 3.3 blocks.

Though the Pac 10 is pretty open this year, I don’t see either of these teams competing for the conference title. Though both are really good defensively they just aren’t good on offense. This game will be played in the low 60’s or maybe even the 50’s. Bettors should keep an eye on the Lockett situation but I expect him to play.