The Utah Runnin’ Utes (5-1) play the BYU Cougars (4-1) at Jon M. Huntsman Center. The game begins at 10:00 pm ET on Wednesday, Dec. 2 and will air on PAC.
The Runnin’ Utes won big over Idaho State 102-72 the last time they played. Jakob Poeltl was a key piece, recording his fourth double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds. The Cougars, meanwhile, are coming off a 95-81 win over Belmont in their last outing. Kyle Collinsworth had a big game and claimed his second double-double of the season, accumulating 26 points and 10 assists.
Utah is a seven-point favorite against BYU and the Over/Under (O/U) for this game is sitting at 157 points. The Runnin’ Utes are hoping to build on their records of 5-1 Straight Up (SU) and 2-3-1 Against The Spread (ATS).
Over on the other bench, the Cougars head into the game with records of 1-1 ATS and 4-1 SU. Offensively, they average 83.4 points per game, which is good for 47th in the country. The Cougars have controlled the glass with a Division I-best 50.8 rebounds per game. Moving on to the BYU defense, the Cougars have one of the best opponent field-goal percentages in the nation at .345. They average 5.2 blocks per game, good for 48th in the nation.
Utah and BYU will be facing off in their first head-to-head clash of the season. When they last met the Runnin’ Utes were winners, but BYU still leads the head-to-head record, 7-3 SU. The Runnin’ Utes hold the advantage ATS with a record of 7-3.
Predictions: SU Winner – BYU, ATS Winner – BYU, O/U – Over
Notes
Utah is 2-4-1 ATS in its last 7 games.
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Utah’s last 6 games.
Utah is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games.
Utah is 23-2 SU in its last 25 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Utah’s last 5 games at home.
Utah is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games when playing at home against BYU.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Utah’s last 6 games when playing at home against BYU.
BYU averages 83.4 points per game (ranked 47th). Utah, on the other hand, allows 73.3 points per game (ranked 207th).
Ranked 10th, the BYU Cougars have one of the top defenses in the country, giving up just 83.8 points per 100 possessions. The Utah Runnin’ Utes rank 46th in offense, scoring 116.3 points in the same number of possessions.
The Utah Runnin’ Utes average a field goal percentage of 46.0% this season. The BYU Cougars are a perfect 1-0 in games where opponents have a FG% of 46.0% or greater.
The Utah Runnin’ Utes rank lower for their field goal percentage (109th) than they do for their effective field goal percentage (96th), but the BYU Cougars have a better FG% ranking (79th) than eFG% ranking (89th).
Ranked 21st in the nation, BYU has an average of 18.4 assists per game. Utah ranks lower at 211th with 13.0.
The BYU Cougars are the best rebounding team in the nation with 50.8 rebounds per game. The Utah Runnin’ Utes rank 133rd, rebounding 38.7 times per game.
The BYU Cougars rank 37th in offensive rebounds. The Utah Runnin’ Utes rank 115th in the nation in defensive rebounds.
On average, Utah forces a turnover rate of 15.1%. When BYU turns over the ball at a similar or higher rate, the team has a winning 3-1 record.
