Arizona vs. Stanford score predictions

The Arizona Wildcats (11-4, 2-0) will take on the Stanford Cardinal (7-7, 0-2) on Wednesday to kick off the Bay Area road trip.

Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. MST on the Pac-12 Network.

KenPom gives Arizona a 58 percent chance of winning with a projected score of 70-68. Here is what we think will happen. Be sure to leave your predictions in the comment section below.

Brian J. Pedersen — Arizona wins 76-74

Russ Pennell was the last Arizona coach to lose at Maples Pavilion, back in 2009, and since then the Wildcats have won 17 straight against Stanford. That doesn’t mean it’s been a cakewalk, not with the last three meetings decided by eight points or fewer. Arizona’s performance on the road in Pac-12 play under Sean Miller has been second-to-none, posting a 50-31 mark under his watch, but if it’s going to lose a game on this trip it would be here rather than Saturday at Cal. That’s not going to happen, though; instead, the Wildcats will fall behind early and put together a strong second half to edge the Cardinal and move to 3-0 in league play.

Christopher Boan — Arizona wins 78-69

Stanford and coach Jared Haase are building something special in the Bay Area, with Haase pulling in the 20th ranked class in the country a year ago, after finishing 14th overall the year before. That said, this year’s Cardinal squad is mediocre, even by the standards of the woebegone Pac-12. They currently sit 132nd in KenPom, with back-to-back losses to the LA schools to open conference play. That said, Arizona’s not in a position to blow anyone out of the water right now, so I’ll say they will beat Stanford, but not in a sexy way that’ll remind anyone of years past. Expect another grinder of a basketball game at Maples Pavilion, because basketball is existential torture, especially when you don’t have Deandre Ayton stuffing the ball through the hoop to cover up your glaring weaknesses.

Zant Reyez — Arizona wins 77-70

Arizona will survive another close game and stay atop the Pac-12. Arizona will not win any games in a pretty fashion, so fans should start getting used to these close games.

Ezra Amacher — Arizona wins 83-65

Propelled by their overtime thriller against Utah, the Wildcats will play their most complete game of the year in a convincing victory over Stanford. Arizona stacks up well at every position against a very inexperienced Cardinal team. Chase Jeter and Ryan Luther in particular should be able to expose Stanford’s weak interior defense.

The biggest challenge for Arizona will be its shooting. Can Brandon Williams and Justin Coleman get it going from deep? That will be the decider of whether this game is an Arizona rout vs. a mere victory in Palo Alto.

Ronnie Stoffle — Arizona wins 73-65

The first road trip of Pac-12 play probably won’t be as easy as it could be. Arizona has struggled with this road trip of late. Arizona has made the Bay area trip six times in the last seven years and at least one of these games has either been a loss or far too close for comfort.

Stanford looked far from great last week against the Southern California schools. However, returning home can cure a lot of issues. UA is a slight favorite (-2.5 as of the time I’m writing this) which feels appropriate.

I expect the Wildcats to struggle containing Daejon Davis’ scoring and facilitating early but but find answers with their second half adjustments. This is another opportunity for Chase Jeter to continue finding himself as the premiere big man in the Pac-12. UA will create some separation with the free-throw game in the final minutes and escape with the win.

Ryan Kelapire — Arizona wins 73-69

I think this one will go down to the wire, but Arizona will extend its winning streak over Stanford to 18.

The Cardinal are an unimpressive team devoid of any real strengths. But Arizona isn’t that great either and it’s a road game, hence why I think it will be close. Stanford is 5-0 at Maples Pavilion this year, after all.