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Big 12 Tournament Championship Predictions: Saturday (Arizona vs. Houston)

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The Big 12 Tournament wraps up Saturday night at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. The action tips off at 6:00 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+ with a championship on the line, as the top-seed Houston Cougars face the newcomer Arizona Wildcats for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Both teams will make the field of 68 with an at-large bid, even with a loss, but a conference tournament championship is special.

Here are our best Big 12 Tournament college basketball picks for Saturday, March 15th.

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Saturday’s Best Big 12 Tournament College Basketball Picks

Wednesday: 4-4 (50.0%, -64) | Season: 7-6 (53.8%, +24) | Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook | All picks are for 1 unit

Arizona Wildcats (+255) vs. Houston Cougars (-320) | O/U 133.5 (-115/-105)

The Arizona Wildcats (22-11) and Houston Cougars (29-4) meet at 6:00 p.m. ET for all the marbles.

The Wildcats won 86-80 over Texas Tech in the semi-finals, covering as a 1-point favorite as the over (153) easily connected.

Arizona was scorching hot from the field in the win, hitting 50.8% (31-of-61) while going 50% (8-of-16) from downtown and 76.2% (16-of-21) from the free-throw line. Caleb Love went for 27 points on an efficient 10-of-15 shooting, including 5-of-8 from behind the three-point line. He added five rebounds and an assist, too. Trey Townsend chipped in with 21 points, while Jaden Bradley went for 10 points. KJ Lewis had 15 points off the bench while adding eight rebounds, six assists, three blocked shots and two steals in 30 minutes.

The Wildcats outrebounded Texas Tech by a +3 margin, while assists were even. It was a clean game, too, as Arizona turned it over just nine times.

The Cougars picked up an emphatic 74-54 victory over BYU in the Big 12 semi-finals, covering as a 6.5-point favorite as the under (134.5) cashed. In this tournament so far, Houston has split 1-1 against the spread (ATS), while also splitting the totals. Houston is just 2-4-1 ATS in its past seven games since February 22nd. The Under is on a 5-2 run in the seven-game span.

Houston shot 41.8% (23-of-55) from the field in their win over BYU, including 38.5% (10-of-26) from behind the three-point line, while hitting 78.3% (18-of-23) from the free-throw line. Emanuel Sharp led the way with 26 points on 7-of-13 shooting and was good for five three-pointers. L.J. Cryer also provided 20 points with four triples, while Milos Uzan was good for 14 points with five assists and three rebounds in 36 minutes.

J’Wan Roberts was unavailable after rolling his right ankle in the quarte-finals victory over Colorado on Thursday. Joseph Tugler stepped into the starting lineup, going for three points with five rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots.

Houston’s bench was good for just nine points in Friday’s win, with Mylik Wilson the best of the lot with six points, while snagging 13 rebounds with three assists, two blocked shots and a steal. Ja’Vier Francis came off the pine for three blocked shots in just 14 minutes. Houston had seven swats, to just three for BYU.

These teams met just once in the regular season, with Houston coming away with a 62-58 victory in Arizona on February 15th. The Cougars covered as a 2-point favorite as the under (137) easily connected.

Houston hit 43.1% (25-of-58) from the floor while going just 29.4% (5-of-17) from behind the arc. Uzan had 19 points on 8-of-12 to pace Houston, while Cryer had 15 points with three triples. Terrance Arceneaux was good for seven points in 27 minutes off the bench.

Arizona’s Love was good for 17 points for the home side, one of just two players in double digits. Lewis came off the bench for 13 points, but like all Wildcats, he struggled from three. He misfired on all three shots from behind the arc. The Wildcats were just 21.7% (5-of-17) from downtown and Arizona was just 37% (20-of-54) from the floor. Arizona did outrebounded Houston 39-to-30, but the Wildcats also turned it over 11 times, to just seven for Houston.

For the championship game, Houston should be able to get the job done. However, this is a huge number. Take Arizona catching the seven and a hook and look for defense to rule the day. Go low on the total.

Picks: Arizona +7.5 (-110) & Under 133.5 Points (-105)

Joe Williams is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Joe, check out his archive and follow him @WinWithJoe.

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