Utah Utes vs Arizona Wildcats Prediction, 2/16/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Utah Utes vs Arizona Wildcats

Date: Thursday, February 16, 2023

Location: McKale Center in Tucson, AZ

TV: ESPN+

The Arizona Wildcats (22-4) host the Utah Utes (17-9) at McKale Center on Thursday.

The Utah Utes took the court against Colorado and walked away with a win by a score of 73-62 in their last game. Utah ended the game having earned a 49.1% field goal percentage (27 of 55) and converted 6 of their 17 shots from 3-point land. From the free throw line, the Utes made 13 of 19 attempts for a percentage of 68.4%. Regarding getting rebounds, they earned 36 with 8 of them being on the offensive end. They also dished out 17 assists in this contest while forcing 6 turnovers and earning 4 steals. Regarding defense, Utah allowed the other team to go 37.1% from the field on 23 of 62 shooting. Colorado recorded 12 assists and had 4 steals for the contest. On top of that, Colorado collected 28 rebounds (9 offensive, 19 defensive), but wasn't able to record a block. Colorado walked away from this one shooting 92.3% at the free throw line by making 12 of their 13 attempts. They also made 4 of 18 tries from long range. Concerning personal fouls, the Utes walked away with 15 while Colorado recorded 16 personal fouls.

Marco Anthony is a guy who came through in this contest. He notched 17 points on 6 of 13 shooting. He saw the court for 38 minutes and also totaled 8 rebounds. He ended up going 46.2% from the field and also recorded 2 dimes.

Get all of our NCAA Basketball Picks

Utah heads into this game with a record of 17-9 for the season. They are averaging 70.5 points per outing (204th in D-1) while shooting 44.3% from the floor. The Utes are connecting on 34.6% on three-point shots (188 of 543) and 71.5% from the free throw line. As a unit, Utah is snagging 39.3 boards per game and has tallied 390 dimes so far this year, which has them ranked 64th in D-1 in terms of passing the ball. They lose possession by turning the ball over 12.0 times per contest and as a basketball team are committing 15.2 fouls every game.

On the defensive end, the Utes have forced 10.7 turnovers per game and they draw 16.3 fouls. They surrender 28.2% on shots from distance and they are ranked 18th in college hoops in PPG allowed (61.8). The Utes are giving up a FG percentage of 38.0% (595 of 1,567) and they concede 34.9 rebounds per contest as a group. They are currently ranked 132nd in D-1 in allowing assists to their opponents with 310 surrendered for the year.

For their last game, the Arizona Wildcats took a defeat with a final score of 88-79 against Stanford. In relation to attacking the glass, Arizona allowed Stanford to grab 33 in all (10 on the offensive glass). They finished the game shooting 55.6% from distance by hitting 10 out of 18 and walked away from this one shooting 12 out of 19 from the free throw line (63.2%). The Wildcats allowed Stanford to make 33 of their 54 tries from the floor which left them with a rate of 61.1% for the game. When the game finished, the Wildcats ended up going 28 for 61 from the floor which had them sitting at 45.9%. With respect to shots from beyond the arc, Arizona converted 14 of their 35 attempts (40.0%). They were able to convert 9 of those for a clip of 81.8%. Stanford had 19 fouls for the game which got the Wildcats to the charity stripe for a total of 11 tries. They coughed up the ball 11 times, while earning 6 steals in the matchup. The Wildcats were able to corral 14 defensive rebounds and 9 offensive rebounds totaling 23 for this contest.

Courtney Ramey pitched in for the Wildcats in the game. He converted 9 of 18 in this game for a rate of 50.0%, and accounted for 6 rebounds. He had 26 points in his 37 mins of playing time and had 5 assists for this contest.

Arizona has a record of 22-4 so far this season. When it comes to executing on offense, the Wildcats are shooting 48.8% from the floor, which ranks them 12th in the nation. Arizona has scored 2,163 pts on the campaign (83.2 per contest) and they average 40.7 boards per contest. They are dishing out assists 19.5 times per contest (2nd in college basketball) and they cough up possession 13.7 times per contest. The Wildcats commit 17.0 fouls every game and they go 72.5% from the free throw line.

The Wildcats on the defensive side of the court are 222nd in the nation in PPG allowed with 71.0. They have forced 12.5 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 40.9% from the floor (48th in college basketball). The Arizona defense allows 32.6% on three-point shots (204 of 626) and their opponents are connecting on 69.3% of their shots from the charity stripe. They have given up 12.3 dimes and 33.2 rebounds per game, which is 157th and 123rd in those categories.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Arizona

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here