Utah Utes vs California Golden Bears Prediction, 12/29/2022 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Utah Utes vs California Golden Bears

Date: Thursday, December 29, 2022

Location: Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, CA

TV: Youtube TV

The California Golden Bears (1-12) will take on the Utah Utes (9-4) at Haas Pavilion on Thursday.

The Utah Utes stepped onto the hardwood against TCU and went home with a loss by a final score of 75-71 in their last contest. With respect to fouls, the Utes finished with 17 and TCU recorded 17 fouls. They also made 5 of 16 attempts from beyond the arc. TCU finished the contest at 63.2% from the charity stripe by knocking down 12 of 19 tries. Furthermore, TCU pulled down 32 rebounds (15 offensive, 17 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. TCU distributed 15 assists and had 12 steals for the matchup. With regard to the defense, Utah allowed the other team to shoot 43.3% from the field on 29 out of 67 shooting. They also recorded 15 dimes for the contest as well as forcing the opposition into 10 turnovers and earning 6 steals. Pertaining to rebounding, they collected 34 with 11 of them being offensive. From the free throw line, the Utes buried 13 of their 21 shots for a percentage of 61.9%. Utah walked away from the contest having earned a 46.3% FG percentage (25 out of 54) and knocked down 8 out of their 23 three-point shots.

Gabe Madsen is a player who came through in the matchup. He went 42.1% from the floor and also totaled 3 assists. He was on the hardwood for 34 minutes and pulled down 2 rebounds. He was able to score 26 points on 8 of 19 shooting.

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Utah steps onto the court with a record of 9-4 on the campaign. They have an average of 74.8 points per outing (142nd in college basketball) while connecting on 46.3% from the floor. The Utes are hitting 37.2% on shots from beyond the arc (96 of 258) and 67.6% from the free throw line. As a unit, Utah is pulling down 42.8 rebounds per game and has totaled 199 dimes on the year, which ranks 69th in D-1 in terms of passing. They turn the ball over 13.5 times per contest and as a basketball team are committing 16.1 personal fouls every game.

When they are on the defensive end, the Utes have forced 11.1 turnovers per contest while drawing 17.4 personal fouls. They concede 26.0% on three-point shots and they are ranked 40th in D-1 in PPG allowed (62.0). The Utes are allowing an opponent FG percentage of 35.7% (292 of 819) and they surrender 35.2 rebounds per game as a unit. They rank 125th in college basketball in allowing assists to their opponents with 146 surrendered this year.

For their last game, the California Golden Bears walked away with a victory by a final of 73-51 against UT Arlington. With respect to attacking the glass, California allowed UT Arlington to grab 26 in all (9 on the offensive side). They went 20.0% from distance via 5 out of 25 and ended up going 14 of 18 at the free throw line (77.8%). The Golden Bears permitted UT Arlington to make 16 of their 50 attempts from the field which had them shooting 32.0% for the matchup. When the game finished, the Golden Bears finished the game shooting 26 out of 46 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 56.5%. When talking about shots from 3-point land, California converted 3 of their 7 tries (42.9%). They were able to make 18 of the free throw attempts for a percentage of 72.0%. UT Arlington earned 21 fouls in the game which took the Golden Bears to the free throw line for a total of 25 attempts. They also turned it over 10 times, while earning 3 steals in the game. The Golden Bears were able to corral 25 defensive boards and 4 offensive boards for a total of 29 for the matchup.

Joel Brown ended up being important for the Golden Bears in this contest. He scored 17 points in his 35 minutes on the court and tallied 2 dimes in this contest. He knocked down 7 out of 13 for the matchup for a field goal percentage of 53.8%, and had 6 rebounds.

California has a win-loss record of 1-12 this season. As an offense, the Golden Bears are hitting on 40.6% from the floor, which ranks them 336th in the nation. California has tallied 769 pts so far this season (59.2 per contest) and they pull in 31.5 boards per contest. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 9.8 times per contest (356th in college basketball) and they cough up possession 13.9 times per game. The Golden Bears are responsible for committing 17.3 fouls every game while shooting 76.1% from the free throw line.

The California defense gives up 31.6% on shots from beyond the arc (81 of 256) and opponents are converting on 73.2% of their shots from the free throw line. They have surrendered 12.5 dimes and 33.4 boards every game, which is 181st and 140th in those categories on the defensive end. The Golden Bears defensively are ranked 120th in Division 1 in points per game surrendered with 66.3. They are able to force 11.0 TO's every game and have allowed teams to shoot 43.7% from the field (241st in D-1).

So what is Tonights Parlay prediction?

Parlay's Pundit's Pick: Take California and under the total points

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