NCAAB odds, pick: Washington vs. Arizona State for Thursday, Feb. 22

Washington vs. Arizona State Odds

Thursday, Feb. 22, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN2

Odds via PointsBet. Get up-to-the-minute NCAAB odds here.

Washington Huskies

The Mike Hopkins era is coming to an unfortunate end in Seattle. Hopkins brought some excitement to the Huskies faithful in the first couple years, but it's gotten progressively worse as time rolls on. Washington enters this game at 14-12 overall and 6-9 in Pac-12 play and is fresh off a tough home loss against California.

The main issue in that game? Washington allowed 82 points against the strong Golden Bears offense. Defense has been a thorn in Washington's side all year, as it sits at 90th in defensive efficiency. When Washington loses, a lack of defense is usually the root cause.

Washington excels on the offensive end, as it ranks 45th in offensive efficiency. Keion Brooks Jr. should get real consideration for Pac-12 Player of the Year, but his team sitting in the middle of league hurts his chances. Brooks scored 20+ points in nine of the past 10 games and is tied for 11th nationally in points per game.

Although Washington's season is a lost cause, Brooks is playing like one of the top scorers in the sport.

The Huskies' offense is exceptional at scoring from the mid-range and inside, hitting on 54.7% of their 2-point shots. Washington's strength is scoring inside, and it's the best way to attack the Sun Devils' inconsistent defense.

Arizona State Sun Devils

The Sun Devils looked strong in their last two wins over Utah and Oregon State before getting hammered by 45 points in a rivalry loss against Arizona. The game against the Wildcats was totally uncompetitive from the start and never got closer.

Arizona State’s offense is very poor, ranking 217th in offensive efficiency with poor shooting numbers across the board. There’s rarely any actual flow within the offense, and everything comes down to taking contested jumpers.

Frankie Collins, Adam Miller, Jamiya Neal and Jose Perez all average double-digit points. All have the same issues, though — none shoot it well from 3.

Perez is a downhill scorer who’s shooting 43% from deep but on just over one attempt per game. Miller and Neal shoot at a high volume but are super streaky, and Collins isn’t a shooter. The team hits only 30% from 3 this season, a total far-cry from Bobby Hurley's early coaching days in Tempe.

On the surface, ASU’s defense looks promising when you look at the whole season’s body of work. When you dive into the inner workings of conference play, though, the Sun Devils rank 10th out of 12 teams in defensive efficiency.

The offense being bad isn’t surprising, but I didn’t see the defense turning into a pumpkin.

You can point to Arizona State’s issues defending the rim as the reason for its defensive regression. Opponents are shooting 55% from inside the arc, which ranks last in conference play.

Some of it comes from the guards gambling for turnovers and getting beat on drives, and it also comes from the constant foul issues plaguing bigs Shawn Phillips Jr. and Alonzo Gaffney.

Washington vs. Arizona State

Betting Pick & Prediction

I'm all in on the bounce back spot for the Huskies here.

Home court advantage hasn't mattered a ton for Arizona State this year, and I see the Huskies owning the paint against a sub-par Sun Devils interior defense.

Pick: Washington -3