Arizona State University Wells Fargo Arena – Tempe, AZ
Tip-off: Tuesday, 9:00 pm ET
Line: Creighton -7.5, Total: 167.5

#9 Creighton will be looking to stay unbeaten with a win over Arizona State in Tempe on Tuesday.

The Bluejays are off to an absurd start to the year, as they are 11-0 SU and 7-3 ATS thus far. They haven’t necessarily faced cupcakes either. Creighton hosted Wisconsin in the Jays’ second game of the year, and the team won 79-67 as a 1.5-point home underdog. That Badgers team was returning all five starters from a team that was 10 seconds away from going to the Elite Eight a year ago. The Jays also went into Nebraska three games ago and beat the Cornhuskers 77-62 as four-point favorites. Arizona State, meanwhile, has now lost three of its past five games. The Sun Devils have five losses on the year, but two of those came at the hands of Kentucky and Purdue. Still, the team lacks quality wins right now. Their most impressive outing was a 74-63 win as 8.5-point underdogs against San Diego State on Dec. 10, and the team will need to play like that in order to upset Creighton in this one. It’s worth noting that these teams met in December last year as well, and Arizona State won 79-77 as an eight-point underdog. This is, however, a much different Bluejays team. It’s also worth pointing out that Creighton is 11-3 ATS when playing only its second game in eight days over the past two seasons. The Bluejays won’t lose this one due to a lack of rest.

If Creighton is going to improve to 12-0 then G Marcus Foster (18.2 PPG) is going to need to come up big in this tough road spot on Tuesday. Foster is one of the best scorers in the Big East, as he is incredibly efficient for a guard. Foster is shooting 50.7% from the floor this season, and he’s also knocking down 41.4% of his threes. He can really shoot the ball, but he also has the athleticism to attack the rim. Look for him to come out and be very aggressive in this one. G Maurice Watson Jr. (13.1 PPG, 9.2 APG, 1.6 SPG), meanwhile, is the leader of this team. Watson Jr. is one of the best point guards in the nation, and he has actually recorded double-doubles (points and assists) in three of his past four games. He scored 25 points and dished out eight assists in the only game where he didn’t record one. Watson Jr. is one of the rare college point guards that love to get his teammates involved. He should be able to rack up 10 assists in a game that figures to be extremely high-scoring. The x-factor in this game is going to be lengthy freshman F Justin Patton (11.8 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 1.5 BPG), though. Patton is extremely active around the rim on both ends of the floor, and he’ll need to dominate the paint in this game. It is, however, important that he avoids foul trouble.

If Arizona State is going to pull off the upset on Tuesday then G Tra Holder (15.6 PPG) is going to need to find a way to be effective. Holder was miserable in the loss to Purdue three games ago, finishing his 23 minutes of play with just two points on 1-of-8 shooting. He did, however, follow it up with 17 points, five boards and four assists in the win over San Diego State. The Sun Devils need Holder to play more like that in this one. Gs Torian Graham (16.5 PPG) and Shannon Evans II (16.1 PPG, 4.5 APG, 3.4 RPG, 1.1 SPG) will also need to be ready to go in this one. Both guys can score the basketball, but it is Evans II that has the ability to change the game. He is a do-it-all type of guy for this Sun Devils team, and he’ll need to stuff the stat sheet on Tuesday. The last guy that needs to be mentioned for Arizona State is F Obinna Oleka (12.1 PPG, 9.8 RPG, 1.4 SPG). Oleka is going to find himself matched up with Justin Patton in this game, and he absolutely must hold his own inside. He doesn’t have the height that Patton does, but he needs to find a way to make up for that. If he is not boxing out frequently then Patton will feast around the basket.