Stanford vs. Arizona score predictions

Will the Cardinal finally beat Sean Miller?

The Arizona Wildcats (15-12, 6-8) will rematch the Stanford Cardinal (14-12, 7-7) on Sunday in Tucson, looking for their 19th straight win over the Cardinal.

Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. MST on ESPN2. KenPom gives the Wildcats a 68 percent chance of winning, with a projected score of 71-66. Vegas lists Arizona as 4.5-point favorites.

Here is what we think will happen. Be sure to leave your predictions in the comment section below.

Brian J. Pedersen — Arizona wins 73-66

Could it be, an actual winning streak? It’s hard to take anything from Arizona’s beatdown of winless Cal on Thursday beyond the fact that it helped the Wildcats relieve more than a month’s worth of stress. Stanford is far better than the Golden Bears but still not a particularly good team, and it looked bad at ASU on Wednesday (and has since flown home to Palo Alto and then flown back to Tucson). Arizona can force a massive tie for seventh place with a victory here, so there’s a lot riding on this one beyond extending the longest active Pac-12 head-to-head win streak to 19.

Christopher Boan — Arizona wins 68-65

I really don’t think Arizona is back or anything, but I’ll give them a slight nod over the Cardinal, simply because Ryan Luther is on one right now. Also, the Cardinal got pole-axed by the Sun Devils on Wednesday, so who knows how motivated or focused they’ll be to play a mediocre Wildcats team on a Sunday afternoon. The key for Arizona hinges on Brandon Randolph’s ability to find the cylinder after a multi-week cold spell that’s robbed much of the momentum he built earlier in the year. I expect him and Luther to do just enough to guide the ‘Cats to a home win.

Zant Reyez — Stanford wins 77-70

Arizona ended its losing streak, but the Trees come to Tucson looking to start a new one for UA. January’s game was close and so will this one, but Stanford gets the win this go around.

Ryan Kelapire — Arizona wins 73-69

I think Arizona and Stanford are even as can be at this point, but I am giving the Wildcats the nod because they are playing in McKale Center and the Cardinal could be without the injured KZ Okpala, though I tend to believe he will play because injured/suspended guys always seem to play against Arizona.

I also like Arizona because of the turnover differential. Stanford is dead last in the Pac-12 in turnover percentage, while the Wildcats are No. 1. It is hard to imagine a not-so-good Cardinal team winning a game in a tough environment if they are turning the ball over a ton.

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