Washington State Cougars vs Utah Utes Prediction, 1/8/2022 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Washington State Cougars vs Utah Utes

Date: Saturday, January 8, 2022

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

TV: PAC12

Jon M. Huntsman Center is the location where the Utah Utes (8-6) will take on the Washington State Cougars (8-5) on Saturday.

The Washington State Cougars faced Boise State and ended up losing by a score of 58-52 in their last contest. Washington State ended the contest with a 30.5% field goal percentage (18 out of 59) and buried 7 of 24 shots from downtown. At the charity stripe, the Cougars made 9 of their 15 shots for a rate of 60.0%. Concerning getting rebounds, they earned 37 with 15 of them being of the offensive variety. They also distributed 5 assists for the contest while forcing the other team into 14 turnovers and earning 7 steals. When discussing defense, Washington State allowed their opponent to shoot 36.0% from the field on 18 of 50 shooting. Boise State recorded 4 dimes and had 5 steals in this matchup. In addition, Boise State snagged 34 rebounds (9 offensive, 25 defensive), but didn't notch a block. Boise State finished the game at 85.7% at the free throw line by making 18 of 21 attempts. They converted 4 of 16 tries from distance. In reference to personal fouls, the Cougars finished with 24 and Boise State had 17 personal fouls.

Andrej Jakimovski is someone who was a major factor in this game. He finished 66.7% from the field and totaled 3 assists. He played 30 minutes and snagged 12 boards. He notched 11 points on 4 out of 6 shooting.

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Washington State comes into this matchup with a mark of 8-5 this year. They turn the ball over 12.1 times per contest and as a group they commit 19.5 fouls every game. As a unit, Washington State is collecting 39.6 boards per contest and is sitting with 136 dimes on the year, which has them ranked 314th in Division 1 in terms of passing the rock. The Cougars are connecting on 34.4% from downtown (116 of 337) and 75.4% from the free throw line. They currently have an average of 75.7 points per outing (104th in D-1) while hitting 42.5% from the floor.

When they are on defense, the Cougars are forcing their opponents into 14.1 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 19.5 fouls. They currently rank 25th in college basketball in allowing assists to their opponents with 120 surrendered this year. The Cougars defensively are giving up an opponent FG percentage of 38.9% (282 of 725) and they surrender 32.9 boards per contest as a squad. They surrender 30.5% from 3-point land and they are ranked 69th in the nation in PPG allowed (63.3).

For their last game, the Utah Utes took a loss by a score of 79-66 against Oregon. In relation to how they attacked the glass, Utah allowed Oregon to collect 30 in total (5 offensive). They finished the game shooting 52.6% from three-point range by shooting 10 of 19 and ended up going 9 out of 17 at the free throw line (52.9%). The Utes allowed Oregon to knock down 30 out of 54 attempts from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 55.6% in this matchup. When this game wrapped up, the Utes ended up shooting 23 out of 57 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 40.4%. In terms of shots from 3-point land, Utah knocked down 7 of their 25 attempts (28.0%). They were able to bury 13 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 92.9%. Oregon had 16 personal fouls for the contest which took the Utes to the charity stripe for a total of 14 shots. They turned the ball over 15 times, while getting 7 steals for this contest. The Utes recorded 23 defensive rebounds and 6 offensive rebounds for a total of 29 in the game.

Marco Anthony was important for the Utes for the matchup. He converted 4 out of 9 in this game giving him a field goal percentage of 44.4%, and earned 8 rebounds. He had 14 points in his 33 minutes on the court and accounted for 1 assist in this contest.

Utah has a record of 8-6 for the campaign. The Utes are committing 16.0 personal fouls every game and they shoot 78.8% from the charity stripe. They are assisting teammates 14.5 times per contest (115th in college basketball) and they are turning it over 11.7 times per contest. Utah has scored 1,018 points on the year (72.7 per contest) and they collect 38.9 boards per game. As an offensive team, the Utes are connecting on 42.7% from the field, which is 255th in the country.

The Utes on the defensive side of the court are 175th in college basketball in PPG surrendered with 67.9. They are able to force 9.0 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 42.1% from the field (170th in the country). The Utah defense gives up 27.8% on shots from beyond the perimeter (73 of 263) and their opponents are converting on 66.3% of their shots from the free throw line. They have given up 11.1 assists and 35.6 rebounds every game, which ranks them 89th and 228th in the country.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Utah

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