In-state rivals meet to close out the regular season on Saturday night.
Utah knocked off BYU in a thrilling overtime affair in the first game, but the setting will switch to Provo with BYU on the heels of a double overtime win at Iowa State earlier in the week. The Cougars have quickly emerged as one of the most dangerous teams in the country with a recent heater that includes seven straight wins.
Can the Cougars cap the regular season with a win at home to make it eight? Oddsmakers have installed the home favorites as double digit chalk, but is there another way to bet on this one?
Spread
Moneyline
Total: 154.5 (Over -105/Under -115)
Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook
Utah
Ezra Ausar: The Utah big man was incredible in the first meeting, dropping a game high 26 points on 11-of-15 shooting as the Cougars couldn’t slow him down around the rim. The East Carolina transfer has had plenty of big games as he is one of the most physical big men in the country. Can he cap the regular season with a strong effort?
BYU
Richie Saunders OVER 16.5 Points (-128)
The wing is enjoying a great run of form, averaging over 23 points per game over his last five games.
After scoring 16 points in the first meeting that did go to overtime, I’m going to stick with Saunders to keep it rolling on Saturday against a Utah defense that is among the worst teams on the road this season, ranking last in Haslametrics away from home rating.
As noted above, Utah is the worst road team in college basketball this season according to Haslametrics. That will be exasperated given the fact that BYU is 14th in the same metric at home.
However, I do believe we are starting to get an inflated BYU team after its run of seven straight wins and on the heels of a double overtime upset at Iowa State on the road.
Instead, I’m going to target the over in this one as BYU should be able to put together a big effort on offense against Utah’s leaky perimeter defense that is allowing the third highest three-point percentage to opponents in Big 12 play.
However, Utah’s offense has been in good form of late, really putting an emphasis on getting to the free throw line. Over the last 10 games, dating back to February 1st, the Utes are top 40 in the country in free throw rate while 56th in offensive rebounding rate, per Bart Torvik.
While BYU has enjoyed a hot streak, much of it has been led by its elite shooting, 13th since February 1st in effective field goal percentage. With that in mind, the team is 176th in the same metric on defense.
I’ll side with the over in this rematch.
PICK: OVER 154.5 (-105, Available at FanDuel Sportsbook)
Create a new FanDuel Sportsbook account, and you can get $150 in bonus bets if you win your first $5 wager. Download the FanDuel app and deposit a minimum of $5 to claim your new-user bonus today.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
