Pac-12 Tournament 2021: Betting Tips for Round 1 Odds, Spreads and Over-Under
March 10, 2021
The Arizona State Sun Devils have not lived up to expectations this season.
Bobby Hurley's team has a chance to finish on a high note at the Pac-12 tournament, but that may be difficult with two key players out of the competition in Las Vegas.
Arizona State may not make it out of the first round since it faces a tough matchup with the Washington State Cougars, which pushed it to overtime on February 27.
The Stanford Cardinal could find themselves in a similar situation on Wednesday, as their star player is dealing with injury issues.
Stanford looks like a completely different team without Oscar da Silva, and if he does not play, the California Golden Bears could push their top rival.
Pac-12 Tournament 1st-Round Schedule
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.
No. 8 Arizona State (-1) vs. No. 9 Washington State (Over/Under: 144) (4 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network)
No. 7 Utah (-7.5) vs. No. 10 Washington (O/U: 143.5) (7 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network)
No. 6 Stanford (-6.5) vs. No. 11 California (O/U: 132) (10 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network)
Betting Tips
Washington State (+1) vs. Arizona State
Arizona State will again be without Josh Christopher and Marcus Bagley, who will miss the Pac-12 tournament, per Doug Haller of The Athletic.
The Sun Devils have played without both players this season, but they have not had an overwhelming amount of success. They beat the Cougars without the pair but then proceeded to get blown out by the Colorado Buffaloes and Utah Utes.
Washington State had five players reach double digits and shot 41.2 percent from three-point range in the February 27 loss. Arizona State made the same amount of shots from beyond the arc, but it needed eight more attempts to get there.
That performance is an example of how the Cougars' play has improved over the last few weeks. They have two wins and two one-possession losses in a five-game span.
If Washington State hangs tight with a depleted Arizona State team again, it could put itself in position to win to earn a matchup with the top-seeded Oregon Ducks.
Kyle Smith's team likely won't make a deep run in Las Vegas, but a win would be a decent finish to a season in which its form dipped following a 9-1 start.
California (+6.5) vs. Stanford
Upon first glance, the team with the worst record in the Pac-12 may not be worth putting any money on.
However, if you evaluate the current state of California and Stanford, the Golden Bears could at least have a shot at covering the 6.5-point spread.
Stanford has played without Da Silva since February 25 and lost all three games with him not on the floor.
Cardinal head coach Jerod Haase called the senior forward "day-to-day" heading into Las Vegas, per Jackson Moore of 247Sports.
"He wants to play. I think it's within the realm of possibility," Haase said. "But at this point, it's day-to-day with him. I think how he practices today will be important for that."
Even when Da Silva was in the lineup, Cal played a close game with Stanford in the second leg of a back-to-back series on February 7.
The Golden Bears have not been blown out in many of their games since that 76-70 loss, and they even beat the Colorado Buffaloes.
Cal has three single-digit losses in the five other games since the second defeat to Stanford, so there is potential for it to keep the game close.
Since the Golden Bears have three Pac-12 wins, it is hard to envision them winning outright, but if Da Silva is out or not at 100 percent on the floor, they could cover the 6.5-point spread.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
Statistics obtained from ESPN.com.
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