Princeton vs Arizona Predictions & Odds – Zona Favored by 14.5 Points in First Round of NCAA Tournament

• Arizona Wildcats are 14.5-point favorites over the Princeton Tigers in March Madness action Thursday, March 16
• Arizona is the second ranked team in the south region, while Princeton is 15th
• Below, see the Princeton vs Arizona odds and picks for Thursday’s game set for 4:10pm ET

Thursday afternoon, the South Region #2 seed Arizona Wildcats tip off their March Madness quest against the #15 Princeton Tigers. Since 1985, when the tournament expanded to a 64-team format, No. 15 seeds have beaten No. 2 teams on just ten of 148 occasions (winning percentage of 6.3%).

For the campaign, Princeton had a record of 21-and-8, while Arizona was 28-and-6. Princeton earned an automatic bid into the NCAAs by defeating Yale 74-65 in the title game of the Ivy League tournament. The Wildcats took care of UCLA 61-59 in the Pac-12 title contest.

Given the discrepancy in seeds, it should come as no surprise that oddsmakers have installed Arizona as heavy 14.5-point favorites over their counterparts.

Princeton vs Arizona Odds

Arizona is the number two seed in the South Region, with only Alabama ahead of them in the March Madness bracket. The Wildcats are +1600 to win in the March Madness odds. The Tigers are massive longshots at +500000.

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Odds as of March 15 at DraftKings Sportsbook. See the best March Madness betting apps.

Tip-off is set for 4:10 pm ET on Thursday, March 16th at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, CA. The game is being carried by TNT. Arizona are huge 14.5 favorites in this one with a total of 154 points.

Princeton Tigers Betting Trends

This marks the Princeton Tigers’ first appearance in the March Madness since 2017. Since the expansion into 64 teams in 1985, they haven’t made it past the second round. Princeton won their final four contests of the season, defeating Yale 74-65 in the Ivy League Tournament final. They had four players with double digits points in that one, led by Tosan Evbuomwan’s 21 and five rebounds. He averaged a team-high 15.0 points per game and is second in rebounding at 6.2.

🇬🇧 Tosan Evbuomwan is going dancing!

The senior has once again proven to be a really tough match-up for anyone and earned MOP honors after playing a crucial role for Princeton in bringing home the Ivy League title with wins over Penn (21p 6r 4a) and Yale (21p 5r 4a)@Tosan_Evb pic.twitter.com/ffeCtxnmW3

— CBB Europe (@CBB_Europe) March 12, 2023

This will be just the second time these two schools square off, with the other occasion being in 1985. If Princeton is going to keep this game close, they’ll need to knock down plenty of three pointers. They have four players who have attempted more than 100 shots from downtown, including Matt Allocco (44 for 108 for 40.7% efficiency). The squad comes in having won 13 of their last 17 affairs.

Arizona Wildcats Betting Trends

The big reason why this game features a total of O/U 154 points is because the Wildcats can rack them up in bunches. They were fifth nationally this season, averaging 82.7 points per outing. They’re led by big man Azuolas Tubelis (19.8 points/game) and Oumar Ballo (14.2). This will be something of a revenge factor tournament of the Wildcats, after they were manhandled by Houston in the Sweet 16 last year. In the final two games in last year’s Madness, Tubelis could only muster seven total points, the same amount of turnovers he had.

Congrats to double-double machine Ąžuolas Tubelis for being crowned the 2023 #Pac12MBB Tourney Most Outstanding Player! 👑 pic.twitter.com/9EOptOfdgE

— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) March 12, 2023

They have some injury concerns as well. The aforementioned Ballo says he broke his hand in the semi-finals against ASU last Friday, but he vows to keep playing through it (he had 13 points against UCLA in the final). Kerr Kriisa subluxed his right shoulder in the Pac-12 quarterfinals as well. Arizona will be attempting to make the elite 8 for the first time since 2015.

Princeton vs Arizona Prediction

With just ten #15 seeds ever upsetting a #2 seed in the tournament, Princeton has their work cut out for them.

Arizona is too strong offensively for the Tigers to survive a track meet in scoring. However, with the Wildcats having a few players hobbling, racking up a ton of points to hit the over is a bit of a dicey proposition.

Picks: Arizona Moneyline (-1150), Under 154 points (-105)

Other first round March Madness predictions:

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