BYU Cougars vs Arizona Wildcats Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 02/18/26

BYU finally broke out of its 4-game skid and has now won 2 straight games, though Saturday’s 4-point overtime win at home against Colorado may ring some alarm bells among the BYU faithful. This 2-game winning streak will be put to the test against a previously-undefeated Arizona squad that lost not 1, but 2 games last week after starting the year 23-0. Losing at Kansas is nothing to hang your head over and losing to Texas Tech isn’t exactly surprising, either — even if I expected the Wildcats to win that game at home on Saturday. 

These teams played once already just a few weeks ago and Arizona held a comfortable 19-point lead at the Marriott Center with about 11 minutes remaining before seeing it slowly wilt away. BYU had a chance to win the game late, but Arizona ultimately prevailed 86-83 despite losing the turnover battle and giving up 16 offensive rebounds. The Cougars just couldn’t get anything going from inside the arc in that game, shooting just 42% from 2-point range in the loss. AJ Dybantsa and Robert Wright specifically were very inefficient, connecting on just 7-of-27 2-point attempts and 2-of-13 3-point attempts combined, which is notable considering Richie Saunders is out for the rest of the season.

If Arizona secured a win over Texas Tech on Saturday, I would probably like BYU in this spot with Arizona potentially eyeing their meeting with Houston this weekend, but that didn’t happen. Instead, BYU should get a fully focused Wildcat squad that aspires to snap out of this losing streak ahead of their Texas 2-step with Houston and Baylor over the next week. This BYU defense just doesn’t do it for me, as the Cougars are 10th in the Big 12 in adjusted efficiency. Over their last 5 games, they are in the 6th percentile nationally in defensive rating, while they have surrendered at least 90 points in three straight road games. Moreover, as you would probably expect, they are 364th in Haslametrics’ Defensive Momentum, which means they are the perfect type of opponent against which Arizona’s offense can get right. To add insult to injury, BYU’s depth pieces behind Saunders don’t offer much defensive upside. Look for Arizona to close this game stronger than the first meeting, leading to a win and cover. 

BYU vs Arizona prediction: Arizona -11.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to -12.5.

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