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Central Michigan Chippewas @ Arizona Wildcats

Current Records: Central Michigan 5-5, Arizona 5-5

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If the oddsmakers' predictions hold true, the near future looks bright for Arizona. They will be home for the holidays to greet the Central Michigan Chippewas at 4:00 p.m. ET on Saturday at McKale Memorial Center. The Wildcats are strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 84.7 points per game this season.

Arizona took a loss when they played away from home on Saturday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Wednesday. They blew past Samford, posting a 96-64 victory. The Wildcats have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won five contests by 29 points or more this season.

Arizona can attribute much of their success to Caleb Love, who scored 23 points in addition to five rebounds and two steals, and Trey Townsend, who went 6 for 8 en route to 14 points plus eight rebounds. Love had some trouble finding his footing against UCLA on Saturday, so this was a nice turnaround. The team also got some help courtesy of Henri Veesaar, who had eight points plus five rebounds.

Arizona was working as a unit and finished the game with 23 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Samford only racked up 15.

Meanwhile, Central Michigan suffered their biggest loss since February 24th on Tuesday. They suffered a grim 83-59 defeat to Miss. State. The match marked the Chippewas' lowest-scoring matchup so far this season.

Despite their loss, Central Michigan saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Jakobi Heady, who scored 18 points along with six rebounds and two steals, was perhaps the best of all.

The win got Arizona back to even at 5-5. As for Central Michigan, this is the second loss in a row for them and also nudges their season record down to 5-5.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Arizona has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 42.7 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Central Michigan struggles in that department as they've been averaging 38.5. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.

The line on this game has moved quite a bit since it opened, as it started out with the Wildcats as a 24.5-point favorite.


The over/under is 154.5 points.

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