Saturday college basketball and we will see the Utah Utes travel to the McKale Center to take on the Arizona Wildcats. The game has a start time of 7:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on the Pac-12 Network. Current Vegas betting odds have Arizona listed as 5.5 point favorites, while the total is set at 127.
Analysis: The Utah Utes have had a very nice year so far as they come in ranked 8th in the nation with a 14-2 record overall, which includes a perfect 4-0 record in the Pac-12. Utah is 38-12-3 ATS in their last 53 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600 and 38-14-1 ATS in their last 53 games following a ATS win. The Utes have been a solid offensive team this year, ranking 34th in scoring (75.8 ppg), 6th in shooting (50.3%), 14th in 3 point shooting (40.5%) and 228th in FT shooting (67.2%). The defense for this team has been excellent, ranking 10th in points allowed (55.3 ppg), 11th in defensive FG% (36.6%) and 174th in 3 point defense (33.6%).
The Arizona Wildcats come also come in highly ranked as they are 9th in the national polls with a 15-2 record overall, that includes a 10-0 mark at home and a 4-0 mark in the Pac-12. Arizona is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 home games, but 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record, while the host is 2-8 the last 10 in the series. The Cats have been a solid offensive squad this year, ranking 42nd in scoring (74.6 ppg), 17th in shooting (48.9%), 97th in 3 point shooting (36.3%) and 223rd in FT shooting (67.4%). The defense for this team has been solid, ranking 32nd in points allowed (59.2 ppg), 66th in defensive FG% (39.6%) and 117th in 3 point defense (32.0%).
Pick: Going with the Under here. This game is a huge one in the Pac-12 and those games tend to be a bit more conservative and low scoring. Both of these teams have played excellent defense this year, with the Utes allowing just 55.7 ppg overall and 57.7 ppg on the road. the Arizona defense has also been very tough this year as they come in allowing just 59.2 ppg overall and 58.1 ppg at home. Defense is not a problem for Arizona, but their offense has shown that they will be very mediocre this year vs better competition. The Cats have averaged 80 ppg at home this year, but just 70.5 ppg in their 2 home games vs Pac-12 teams. The other night vs an average Colorado defense they were able to score just 68 points. I don't expect that much from them in this one. Utah has scored 75.2 ppg overall this year, but just 63.3 ppg on the road and scoring a bunch of points at Arizona is not easy. The Under is 9-1 in Utah's last 10 road games and the Under is 4-1 in the lastv 5 meetings here between these teams 60-56 sounds like a good score for this one.
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