Iowa State Cyclones vs Arizona Wildcats Prediction, 3/2/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Iowa State Cyclones vs Arizona Wildcats

Date: Monday, March 2, 2026

Location: McKale Memorial Center in Tucson, AZ

TV: ESPN

The Iowa State Cyclones (24-4) are headed to McKale Memorial Center on Monday where they will take on the Arizona Wildcats (26-2).

The Iowa State Cyclones played Utah and took home the win by a score of 75-59 in their last contest. Iowa State walked away from the contest with a 47.5% field goal percentage (28 out of 59) and knocked down 7 of 23 three-point attempts. From the free throw line, the Cyclones buried 12 of 18 tries for a percentage of 66.7%. In regard to getting rebounds, they compiled 26 with 4 of them being offensive. They also dished out 15 assists in the game in addition to forcing the opposition into 17 turnovers and having 10 steals. Pertaining to the defense, Iowa State let their opponent shoot 45.7% from the floor on 21 of 46 shooting. Utah recorded 13 assists and had 6 steals for this game. On top of that, Utah snagged 27 rebounds (2 offensive, 25 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. Utah finished shooting 68.8% when shooting free throws by knocking down 11 of 16 shots. They also made 6 of 18 attempts from beyond the arc. When discussing personal fouls, the Cyclones walked away with 18 while Utah accounted for 14 personal fouls.

Joshua Jefferson is someone who was a factor in this game. He notched 21 points on 7 of 15 shooting. He was on the court for 35 mins and collected 6 rebounds. He ended up going 46.7% from the field and also earned 3 dimes.

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Iowa State enters this one with a record of 24-4 on the year. They are averaging 82.8 points per contest (47th in the country) while hitting 50.1% from the field. The Cyclones are connecting on 39.2% on 3-point shots (250 of 637) and 67.0% from the free throw line. As a team, Iowa State is snagging 35.9 rebounds per game and has earned 498 dimes on the season, which has them ranked 25th in the nation in terms of passing. They turn it over 10.5 times per contest and as a group are committing 15.8 fouls per game.

On the defensive end, the Cyclones are able to force 15.0 turnovers per game while drawing 16.8 fouls. They give up 31.8% on three-point shots while they are 14th in college hoops in PPG allowed (64.9). The Cyclones are giving up a field goal percentage of 42.1% (655 of 1,557) and they concede 30.6 boards per contest as a unit. They currently rank 91st in college in giving up assists to the opposition with 353 conceded on the year.

When they last played, the Arizona Wildcats went home victorious with a score of 87-80 against Baylor. When it comes to how they cleaned up the glass, Arizona permitted Baylor to snag 30 overall (9 on the offensive side). They finished 31.8% from downtown via 7 of 22 and ended up shooting 15 of 21 at the free throw line (71.4%). The Wildcats allowed Baylor to convert 29 of 59 attempts from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 49.2% in this matchup. When all was said and done, the Wildcats shot 30 out of 61 from the field which had them shooting 49.2%. When talking about three-point shots, Arizona made 9 of 21 attempts (42.9%). They were able to knock down 18 of them for a clip of 78.3%. Baylor committed 17 fouls for this contest which got the Wildcats to the charity stripe for 23 tries. They turned the ball over 6 times, while recording 2 steals in this matchup. The Wildcats pulled down 24 defensive rebounds and 13 offensive rebounds totaling 37 in the game.

Jaden Bradley ended up having an impact for the Wildcats for the game. He accumulated 25 points in his 35 mins on the court and accounted for 6 dimes for the game. He made 8 of 17 for this contest for a field goal rate of 47.1%, and tallied 6 rebounds.

Arizona has a win-loss mark of 26-2 on the season. The Wildcats are committing 16.3 personal fouls per contest and they connect on 72.8% from the charity stripe. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 17.4 times per contest (24th in the nation) and they turn it over 10.9 times per game. Arizona has scored 2,441 pts so far this season (87.2 per contest) and they pull down 43.2 rebounds per contest. As an offense, the Wildcats are shooting 50.3% from the field, which is ranked 13th in college.

The Wildcats on the defensive end are ranked 58th in D-1 in points per game surrendered with 68.9. They are forcing 12.4 turnovers on a nightly basis and have allowed teams to shoot 39.3% from the floor (12th in Division 1). The Arizona defense allows 31.4% on shots from beyond the arc (203 of 647) and their opposition knocks down 70.1% of their foul shots. They allow 12.1 dimes and 31.5 total boards per game, which is 78th and 40th in those categories on the defensive end.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Arizona

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