Southern Utah Thunderbirds vs Utah Utes Prediction, 12/5/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Southern Utah Thunderbirds vs Utah Utes

Date: Tuesday, December 5, 2023

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

TV: PAC12

The Utah Utes (5-2) welcome the Southern Utah Thunderbirds (2-5) at Jon M. Huntsman Center on Tuesday.

The Southern Utah Thunderbirds faced Seattle and went home with a loss by a final score of 73-63 in their last contest. When talking about fouls, the Thunderbirds left the arena with 22 and Seattle recorded 23 fouls. They also buried 3 of 14 attempts from downtown. Seattle finished 76.9% when shooting free throws by making 20 of 26 tries. Furthermore, Seattle snagged 34 rebounds (8 offensive, 26 defensive), but wasn't able to record a block. Seattle earned 11 assists and had 8 steals for the contest. In relation to defending, Southern Utah allowed the other team to go 46.3% from the floor on 25 of 54 shooting. They also doled out 10 assists in this contest as well as creating 14 turnovers and getting 7 steals. When it comes to getting rebounds, they collected a total of 23 with 6 of them being of the offensive variety. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Thunderbirds knocked down 15 of 26 tries for a rate of 57.7%. Southern Utah ended the game with a 38.9% field goal percentage (21 out of 54) and converted 6 of their 24 shots from beyond the arc.

Zion Young is a guy who was a contributor for this contest. He left the arena with 14 points on 5 of 10 shooting. He played 29 minutes played and also grabbed 2 rebounds. He walked away from this one shooting 50.0% from the floor and dished out 2 assists.

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Southern Utah will enter this matchup with a record of 2-5 for the year. They are turning it over 12.1 times per game and as a team they are committing 18.4 fouls every game. As a unit, Southern Utah is grabbing 34.1 rebounds per contest and has 67 dimes on the year, which ranks 350th in D-1 in terms of passing. The Thunderbirds are shooting 31.5% on 3-pointers (47 of 149) and 69.0% from the charity stripe. They are averaging 74.3 points per outing (203rd in college basketball) while hitting 44.3% from the field.

On defense, the Thunderbirds are forcing 12.6 turnovers per contest and they draw 20.0 personal fouls. They rank 109th in college basketball in giving up assists with 84 surrendered on the year. The Thunderbirds defensively are giving up an opponent FG percentage of 48.1% (200 of 416) and they surrender 36.6 rebounds per game as a group. They are surrendering 32.5% on 3-pointers and they are 295th in college basketball in points per game from their opponents (76.7).

When they last played, the Utah Utes took home the win by a final score of 79-66 against Hawaii. When talking about how they cleaned up the glass, Utah allowed Hawaii to get 27 overall (9 offensive). They wrapped up this game 30.0% from distance by going 9 out of 30 and walked away from this one shooting 9 out of 15 at the free throw line (60.0%). The Utes allowed Hawaii to convert 24 of their 57 tries from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 42.1% for this game. When the final whistle blew, the Utes went 30 out of 57 from the floor which had them shooting 52.6%. When it comes to shooting from beyond the arc, Utah knocked down 5 of 14 attempts (35.7%). They were able to make 14 of the free throws for a rate of 82.4%. Hawaii earned 16 personal fouls for this contest which took the Utes to the free throw line for a total of 17 tries. They also turned the ball over 12 times, while recording 7 steals in this matchup. The Utes pulled down 25 defensive rebounds and 8 offensive rebounds for a total of 33 in this contest.

Branden Carlson ended up having an impact for the Utes for the game. He converted 8 of 15 for the game for a field goal percentage of 53.3%, and accounted for 6 rebounds. He earned 17 points in his 28 minutes on the hardwood and had 1 assist for the matchup.

Utah has a win-loss mark of 5-2 for the campaign. The Utes are responsible for committing 14.4 personal fouls per game and they go 71.3% from the charity stripe. They are earning an assist 16.3 times per game (54th in college basketball) and they turn it over 12.1 times per game. Utah has scored 565 pts on the season (80.7 per contest) and they collect 39.9 boards per game. As an offensive unit, the Utes are shooting 47.2% from the floor, which is 80th in college basketball.

The Utah defense allows 34.6% on shots from behind the 3-point line (66 of 191) and their opponents are converting on 61.3% of their free throw shots. They have given up 14.3 dimes and 32.9 boards per game, which ranks 296th and 93rd in the country. The Utes are ranked 171st in college basketball in points per game surrendered with 70.4. They have forced 10.6 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 42.4% from the floor (175th in college hoops).

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Southern Utah

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