Colorado Buffaloes vs Arizona State Sun Devils Prediction, 1/3/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Colorado Buffaloes vs Arizona State Sun Devils

Date: Saturday, January 3, 2026

Location: Desert Financial Arena in Tempe, AZ

TV: ESPN2

The Arizona State Sun Devils (9-4) host the Colorado Buffaloes (10-3) at Desert Financial Arena on Saturday.

The Colorado Buffaloes took the court against Northern Colorado and ended up losing by a score of 86-81 in their last game. Regarding personal fouls, the Buffaloes ended up finishing with 14 while Northern Colorado finished the game with 12 personal fouls. They also buried 11 out of their 21 tries from long range. Northern Colorado finished the contest at 76.5% at the free throw line by knocking down 13 of their 17 attempts. Furthermore, Northern Colorado collected 33 rebounds (4 offensive, 29 defensive), but couldn't earn a rejection. Northern Colorado totaled 17 dimes and had 2 steals for the matchup. With regard to defending, Colorado allowed the other team to shoot 52.5% from the floor on 31 of 59 shooting. They also doled out 11 dimes for the matchup while forcing the other team into 12 turnovers and earning 5 steals. When talking about pulling down boards, they compiled 33 with 14 of them being offensive. At the charity stripe, the Buffaloes converted 14 of their 15 tries for a rate of 93.3%. Colorado finished the game with a 39.5% field goal percentage (30 out of 76) and converted 7 of their 23 3-point shots.

Isaiah Johnson is one guy who came through for the game. He ended up walking away with 25 points on 9 out of 20 shooting. He was on the court for 33 mins and also totaled 8 rebounds. He finished shooting 45.0% from the floor and also distributed 2 assists.

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Colorado comes into this game with a win-loss record of 10-3 this season. They are losing possession via turnover 10.0 times per contest and as a group are committing 17.0 personal fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Colorado is collecting 36.5 rebounds per contest and has accumulated 216 assists for the season, which has them ranked 109th in D-1 in terms of passing. The Buffaloes are shooting 37.7% on 3-point shots (90 of 239) and 76.0% from the charity stripe. They currently have an average of 85.9 points per outing (56th in the nation) on 50.0% from the floor.

Defensively, the Buffaloes have forced 11.4 turnovers per contest and they draw 20.5 fouls. They are ranked 78th in college in giving up assists to their opponents with 158 surrendered this year. The Buffaloes defensively are giving up a FG percentage of 45.4% (358 of 788) and they surrender 31.8 boards per contest as a team. They surrender 38.4% on shots from downtown while they are 278th in D-1 in opponents points per game (77.4).

In their last game, the Arizona State Sun Devils went home defeated by a final of 78-75 against Oregon State. The Sun Devils snagged 20 defensive boards and 6 offensive boards totaling 26 in this contest. They turned it over 9 times, while recording 6 steals for the contest. Oregon State earned 20 fouls for this contest which took the Sun Devils to the free throw line for a total of 24 tries. They were able to make 21 of the free throw attempts for a clip of 87.5%. In terms of shooting from downtown, Arizona State made 4 of 19 tries (21.1%). At the conclusion of this game, the Sun Devils shot 25 for 56 from the floor which had them shooting 44.6%. The Sun Devils permitted Oregon State to knock down 25 out of their 57 attempts from the floor which left them with a rate of 43.9% in the matchup. They finished 35.7% from beyond the arc by going 10 of 28 and walked away from this one shooting 18 of 21 at the free throw line (85.7%). In reference to rebounding, Arizona State allowed Oregon State to pull down 31 in total (10 on the offensive glass).

Moe Odum was important for the Sun Devils for the game. He recorded 17 points in his 33 mins on the court and tallied 6 dimes for the contest. He converted 5 out of 16 in this matchup giving him a rate of 31.3%, and tallied 7 rebounds.

Arizona State has a win-loss mark of 9-4 on the season. The Sun Devils commit 17.8 personal fouls per contest and they hit 74.9% from the free throw line. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 13.5 times per contest (254th in the country) and they turn the ball over 11.0 times per contest. Arizona State has accounted for 1,040 points for the season (80.0 per contest) and they snag 33.0 boards per game. As an offensive unit, the Sun Devils are hitting on 46.4% from the field, which ranks 139th in D-1.

The Arizona State defense concedes 33.2% on three-point shots (113 of 340) and their opponents are connecting on 75.5% of their foul shots. They have surrendered 13.2 dimes and 34.5 rebounds per game, which is ranked 178th and 184th in D-1. The Sun Devils defensively are ranked 232nd in the country in PPG surrendered with 75.2. They are forcing their opponents into 14.2 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 43.8% from the floor (210th in Division 1).

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Colorado

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