Arizona Wildcats vs Utah Utes Prediction, 2/4/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Arizona Wildcats vs Utah Utes

Date: Thursday, February 4, 2021

Location: Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, UT

TV: FS1

Odds/Point Spread: Arizona (-2)

The Utah Utes (7-7) play the Arizona Wildcats (13-4) at Jon M. Huntsman Center on Thursday. Utah opens this game as 2-point underdogs. The over/under opens at 144.

Arizona will take the court with a mark of 13-4 for the year. The Wildcats are hitting 38.2% on three-point shots (117 of 306) and 71.6% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 78.8 points per game (50th in the nation) while shooting 46.0% from the floor. They turn it over 12.5 times per contest and as a basketball team they are committing 19.4 fouls on a nightly basis. As a team, Arizona is collecting 39.6 boards per game and has 267 assists so far this season, which is 34th in the nation in terms of passing the rock. On the defensive end of the court, the Wildcats are forcing their opponents into 13.8 turnovers per game while drawing 20.5 personal fouls. They are relinquishing 32.5% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they are ranked 117th in D-1 in PPG allowed (67.7). The Wildcats are giving up an opponent FG percentage of 41.7% (398 of 955) and they surrender 30.6 rebounds per game as a squad. They currently rank 190th in the nation in allowing assists to the opposition with 195 surrendered for the year.

The Arizona Wildcats stepped onto the hardwood against the California Golden Bears and took home the win by a score of 71-50 in their last contest. Arizona finished the game having earned a 51.9% field goal percentage (27 out of 52) and buried 6 out of their 13 shots from 3-point land. At the charity stripe, the Wildcats converted 11 of 18 shots for a percentage of 61.1%. In terms of hauling in rebounds, they earned a total of 32 with 8 of them being of the offensive variety. They also distributed 17 dimes in the game in addition to getting 8 steals and 4 blocks. In reference to defense, Arizona allowed the other team to shoot 51.9% from the floor on 27 of 52 shooting. California doled out 8 dimes and had 3 steals for the contest. Furthurmore, the Golden Bears snagged 20 rebounds (4 offensive, 16 defensive) and added 4 rejections. California ended up going 63.6% from the free throw line by burying 7 of 11 attempts. They made 7 of 22 attempts from beyond the arc.

James Akinjo is one player who was important in this contest. He scored 20 points on 7 out of 14 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 33 mins and pulled down 2 boards. Akinjo finished the game shooting 50.0% from the floor and recorded 8 assists. An additional guy that had an impact in this contest for the Wildcats was Azuolas Tubelis. He pulled down 6 rebounds and also had 2 dimes. He ended up shooting 50.0% from the field in the matchup via 5-of-10 (12 points). In all, Tubelis played for 28 minutes.

Utah has a win-loss mark of 7-7 for the year. When it comes to offense, the Utes are connecting on 45.5% from the floor, which ranks them 114th in the country. Utah has totaled 985 pts so far this season (70.4 per contest) and they collect 32.8 rebounds per game. They are dishing out assists 15.9 times per game (52nd in Division 1) and they turn it over 12.5 times per game. The Utes are responsible for committing 17.1 personal fouls every game and they shoot 75.9% from the free throw line. The Utes are ranked 99th in college hoops in PPG given up with 67.2. The Utah defense allows 35.6% on 3-pointers (109 of 306) and opponents are making 73.1% of their shots from the charity stripe. They concede 13.3 assists and 34.5 total rebounds per game, which is 199th and 143rd in college basketball. They are able to force 14.0 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 42.8% from the floor (170th in the nation).

The last time they took the court, the Utah Utes walked away with a victory by a final of 77-74 when they played the Colorado Buffaloes. The Utes earned 25 defensive rebounds and 4 offensive boards for a total of 29 for this contest. They also turned away 2 shots while recording 3 steals in this game. The Buffaloes earned 20 personal fouls for the contest which got the Utes to the charity stripe for 19 shots. They were able to knock down 16 of the free throw tries for a clip of 84.2%. With regard to shots from beyond the perimeter, Utah knocked down 9 of 20 attempts (45.0%). Overall, the Utes went 26 for 52 from the field which had them at 50.0%. The Utes permitted the Buffaloes to make 28 of their 61 tries from the floor which left them with a rate of 45.9% in the game. They went 46.4% from downtown by shooting 13 of 28 and walked away from this one shooting 5 out of 6 at the free throw line (83.3%). In the matter of rebounding, Utah permitted Colorado to snag 27 in all (6 on the offensive glass).

Timmy Allen was important for the Utes for the matchup. He buried 5 of 14 for the contest giving him a rate of 35.7%, which had him finishing with 17 points. Allen totaled 10 rebounds in his 35 minutes and earned 4 assists for this contest. An additional guy that was important for Utah was Mikael Jantunen. He was able to score 9 points in his 34 minutes on the hardwood by way of 4 of 6 shooting for the contest. Jantunen walked away from this one going 66.7% from the field in addition to earning 2 assists and 6 boards.

Who will win tonight's college basketball game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Utah (+2)

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