Sean's CBB BEST BET B-L-O-W-O-U-T! 16-4 RUN!
- Handicapper
- Sean Murphy
- League
- NCAAB
- Competition
- Long Island vs Arizona
- Release Date
- 03/20/2026 06:54 AM
- Event Date
- 03/20/2026 01:35 PM
- Bet Type
- Point Spread
- Pick
-
Arizona -30.5 (-110)
(Consensus Line)
- Outcome
- Win
- Analysis
- My selection is on Arizona minus the points over Long Island at 1:35 pm et on Friday.
After watching Duke get a scare from Siena and Michigan fail to cover against Howard, bettors might be quick to grab the generous helping of points with Long Island on Friday. I don't think LIU is at the level of either of those upstart opponents that we saw play well yesterday. I can't help but look back to the Sharks non-conference slate that included blowout losses against Notre Dame and Illinois. LIU did manage to stay competitive in a pair of SEC road tilts at Mississippi State and Georgia (the latter came following the holiday break - an unsurprising hangover spot for the Bulldogs) but I think Arizona is a different beast. The Wildcats haven't exactly been piling up ATS victories lately, going just 5-7 ATS over its last 12 games with its longest ATS winning streak lasting only two games over that stretch. This is a team that has three previous ATS winning streaks of three games or more this season, however, and I'm not sure the oddsmakers can set this line high enough in their tournament opener. I think the problem the Sharks will run into here is that they don't like to push the tempo unless absolutely necessary, having hoisted up 54 or fewer field goal attempts in each of their last six games. We saw them really struggle to keep a lid on the offenses of the better opponents they faced during the non-conference portion of their schedule. Arizona of course comes into this one with a full head of steam off a Big 12 championship and having connected on 33, 29, 32 and 25 field goals over its last four contests - despite not being able to really push the pace in any of those games. If you're not going to run on the Wildcats you're not going to have much of a chance of staying competitive and I don't see LIU doing that here. Take Arizona (8*).
