Utah Utes vs BYU Cougars Prediction, 3/8/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Utah Utes vs BYU Cougars

Date: Saturday, March 8, 2025

Location: Marriott Center in Wichita, KS

TV: ESPN+

The Utah Utes (16-14) are en route to Marriott Center on Saturday where they will take on the BYU Cougars (22-8).

The Utah Utes faced West Virginia and went home with a loss by a final score of 71-69 in their last contest. Regarding fouls, the Utes ended up with 17 and West Virginia totaled 20 fouls. They made 8 of 23 tries from distance. West Virginia shot 68.8% from the free throw line by burying 11 of their 16 attempts. Furthermore, West Virginia grabbed 27 rebounds (6 offensive, 21 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. West Virginia recorded 14 dimes and had 7 steals for the matchup. When discussing the defense, Utah allowed the other team to go 45.6% from the floor on 26 out of 57 shooting. They also dished out 11 dimes in this matchup while creating 10 turnovers and earning 7 steals. When it comes to pulling down rebounds, they earned 36 with 10 of them being on the offensive end. At the free throw line, the Utes knocked down 22 of their 32 attempts for a percentage of 68.8%. Utah walked away from the game with a 38.0% FG percentage (19 of 50) and knocked down 9 of their 28 3-point shots.

Gabe Madsen is a player who was a major contributor for the matchup. He ended up shooting 43.8% from the field and also earned 2 dimes. He played for 37 minutes and pulled down 5 boards. He totaled 23 points on 7 of 16 shooting.

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Utah heads into this one with a mark of 16-14 so far this season. They are turning it over 12.4 times per game and as a unit they are committing 18.3 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Utah is grabbing 39.4 boards per game and has earned 533 dimes for the year, which ranks 6th in the country in terms of passing the rock. The Utes are shooting 33.2% on shots from distance (255 of 768) and 64.0% from the free throw line. They are averaging 75.4 pts per game (134th in D-1) while connecting on 45.2% from the floor.

On the defensive end, the Utes are able to force 10.8 turnovers per contest and they draw 18.0 personal fouls. They give up 33.7% on shots from beyond the arc and they are 156th in Division 1 in points per game from their opponents (71.3). The Utes defense is allowing a shooting percentage of 41.4% (744 of 1,798) and they surrender 34.5 boards per game as a unit. They rank 153rd in college in giving up assists with 386 conceded on the campaign.

The last time they took the court, the BYU Cougars got the win with a final of 88-85 when they played Iowa State. When discussing how they cleaned up the glass, BYU allowed Iowa State to get 22 in total (5 offensive). They shot 28.6% from downtown by shooting 8 of 28 and ended up shooting 27 out of 31 from the charity stripe (87.1%). The Cougars allowed Iowa State to convert 25 out of 64 attempts from the field which gave them a rate of 39.1% for the matchup. When this game wrapped up, the Cougars finished shooting 26 out of 59 from the floor which had them at 44.1%. With respect to three-point attempts, BYU converted 11 of 32 tries (34.4%). They were able to convert 25 of the free throws for a percentage of 80.6%. Iowa State was called for 22 fouls for the contest which took the Cougars to the charity stripe for 31 attempts. They gave up possession 27 times, while recording 8 steals in this matchup. The Cougars were able to corral 31 defensive boards and 14 offensive rebounds totaling 45 in this game.

Richie Saunders was important for the Cougars for the matchup. He earned 23 points in his 47 minutes on the court and had 2 dimes in this game. He converted 4 out of 12 in this contest giving him a rate of 33.3%, and totaled 6 rebounds.

BYU has a win-loss mark of 22-8 on the season. The Cougars are responsible for committing 16.0 fouls per game and they go 69.3% from the free throw line. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 17.2 times per game (11th in the country) and they turn it over 12.2 times per game. BYU has scored 2,437 points so far this year (81.2 per game) and they average 37.8 boards per contest. On the offensive side of the court, the Cougars are shooting 48.7% from the floor, which is ranked 19th in D-1.

The BYU defense gives up 34.4% from downtown (261 of 758) and opponents are making 70.5% of their free throw shots. They have allowed 13.1 dimes and 30.7 total rebounds per game, which is 186th and 18th in those defensive categories. The Cougars on defense are ranked 122nd in college hoops in PPG allowed with 70.0. They are forcing 11.9 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 42.7% from the floor (115th in college).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Utah

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