Utah State Aggies vs New Mexico Lobos Prediction, 1/16/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Utah State Aggies vs New Mexico Lobos

Date: Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Location: The Pit in Albuquerque, NM

TV: ESPN+

Odds/Point Spread: Utah State (+5)

The Utah State Aggies (16-1) are en route to The Pit on Tuesday where they will try to defeat the New Mexico Lobos (14-3). Utah State is 5-point underdogs. The total has been set at 156.5.

The Utah State Aggies faced UNLV and took home the win by a score of 87-86 in their last contest. Utah State ended the contest with a 48.2% field goal percentage (27 of 56) and knocked down 10 of their 21 shots from distance. At the charity stripe, the Aggies converted 23 of 25 shots for a percentage of 92.0%. In regard to pulling down boards, they earned 33 with 9 of them being of the offensive variety. They also doled out 17 assists in this matchup in addition to forcing 5 turnovers and earning 5 steals. When talking about defense, Utah State allowed the other team to go 44.4% from the field on 28 of 63 shooting. UNLV distributed 17 dimes and had 7 steals in the matchup. Additionally, UNLV collected 31 rebounds (12 offensive, 19 defensive), but wasn't able to record a block. UNLV finished shooting 76.7% at the charity stripe by knocking down 23 of 30 shots. They knocked down 7 of 24 tries from long range. With respect to personal fouls, the Aggies walked away with 20 while UNLV totaled 18 personal fouls.

Ian Martinez is one guy who was a major contributor for this game. He scored 24 points on 7 of 13 shooting. He played for 34 mins played and collected 3 boards. He ended up going 53.8% from the floor and distributed 5 dimes.

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Utah State will enter this contest with a record of 16-1 for the campaign. They are giving up possession 11.2 times per contest and as a basketball team are committing 17.4 personal fouls per contest. As a team, Utah State is pulling down 37.8 boards per contest and has accumulated 298 dimes on the campaign, which is 19th in Division 1 in terms of passing. The Aggies are connecting on 32.5% on shots from downtown (105 of 323) and 71.8% from the charity stripe. They have an average of 81.9 points per contest (33rd in the country) while hitting 50.1% from the field.

On the defensive end of the court, the Aggies are able to force 13.6 turnovers per contest and they draw 18.4 fouls. They are surrendering 27.6% from 3-point land and they rank 76th in college hoops in points per game allowed (66.5). The Aggies defense is allowing a shooting percentage of 42.0% (406 of 966) and they relinquish 31.0 boards per contest as a team. They are currently ranked 109th in college basketball in giving up assists to their opponents with 194 conceded so far this season.

When they last played, the New Mexico Lobos went home victorious with a score of 88-70 when they faced San Diego State. When it comes to how they cleaned up the glass, New Mexico permitted San Diego State to grab 35 in total (6 offensive). They went 31.8% from three-point range by connecting on 7 out of 22 and ended up shooting 11 of 20 at the charity stripe (55.0%). The Lobos allowed San Diego State to convert 26 out of their 64 attempts from the field which had them sitting at 40.6% for this contest. When all was said and done, the Lobos ended up shooting 30 for 68 from the field which had them shooting 44.1%. Regarding shooting from distance, New Mexico converted 7 of their 24 tries (29.2%). They were able to make 21 of them for a clip of 67.7%. San Diego State was called for 22 personal fouls for the matchup which took the Lobos to the charity stripe for 31 attempts. They turned the ball over 10 times, while recording 8 steals for this contest. The Lobos snagged 32 defensive rebounds and 13 offensive boards for a total of 45 in this matchup.

Jaelen House was important for the Lobos for the matchup. He recorded 26 points in his 33 mins of playing time and totaled 5 assists for this contest. He buried 7 of 16 for the contest for a field goal rate of 43.8%, and had 6 rebounds.

New Mexico has a mark of 14-3 for the season. As an offensive team, the Lobos are hitting on 46.6% from the field, which has them ranked 89th in the nation. New Mexico has accounted for 1,405 points this season (82.6 per game) and they grab 40.1 boards per game. They are assisting teammates 15.7 times per contest (61st in the nation) and they are turning it over 10.6 times per game. The Lobos have committed 18.9 fouls every game while shooting 67.0% from the free throw line.

The Lobos are ranked 104th in college basketball in points given up per game with 68.4. They are forcing their opponents into 16.1 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 41.1% from the floor (78th in D-1). The New Mexico defense allows 30.9% on shots from beyond the perimeter (108 of 350) and their opponents are knocking down 71.3% of their shots from the charity stripe. They concede 12.7 assists and 35.2 boards per contest, which is 175th and 193rd in D-1.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take New Mexico (-5)

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