The Utah Utes take on the Arizona State Sun Devils. Check out our college basketball odds series for our Utah Arizona State prediction and pick. Find how to watch Utah Arizona State.
The Utah Utes have been the most pleasant surprise in the Pac-12 and one of the feel-good stories in college basketball this season. Coach Craig Smith's team was not projected by most experts to be an NCAA Tournament team. It is true that the Utes were crushed by injuries last season, but even then, they didn't have a whole lot of high-level players to surround star Brenden Carlson. Utah's offense was extremely limited even if injuries weren't taken into account. Utah had fallen on hard times, and the program didn't seem ready to take a big leap to the NCAA Tournament in one season. Many felt the Utes might have a tournament-ready team in the 2024-2025 season. Instead, Smith has moved this team ahead of schedule. The Utes have lost only two games, one of them being to Houston, a top-10 team. The only other loss is to a St. John's team which is in the hunt for an at-large NCAA Tournament berth. The Utes have zero bad losses, zero home-court losses, and zero Pac-12 losses after sweeping the Washington schools this past weekend. They trailed Washington by 13 but came back to win. They scored 95 points in that victory, proof of how much better their offense is this season.
Arizona State is 8-5, not terrible but not great. The Sun Devils, however, have to feel good about where they are, because they could easily be 5-8 instead of 8-5. ASU has faced deficits of eight points or more in the final 11 minutes of regulation on a regular basis this season. The Sun Devils, however, have managed to win four such games in which they faced that scenario. This is a team which knows how to defend and rebound in late-game situations. ASU has sacrambled and rallied on numerous occasions to rescue games which seemed to be near-certain losses. That's a dangerous formula, but being 8-5 through 13 games is a remarkable feat considering how often ASU has been trailing midway through the second halves of its games this season. The Sun Devils will likely need a better start versus Utah.
Here are the Utah-Arizona State College Basketball odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Basketball Odds: Utah-Arizona State Odds
Utah Utes: -6.5 (-110)
Arizona State Sun Devils: +6.5 (-110)
Over: 146.5 (-115)
Under: 146.5 (-105)
How To Watch Utah vs Arizona State
Time: 11:00 pm ET / 8:00 pm PT
TV: ESPN2
Stream: fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why Utah Could Cover the Spread
The Utes are just a really good team. They have won every game they were supposed to win this season, at least if you think St. John's and Rick Pitino are better. That's the only game in which there's any debate about whether Utah lost a game it should have won. The Utes have a balanced offense and have great cohesion on the court. They are clearly better than Arizona State, whose 8-5 record is, as noted above, better than the level of performance the Sun Devils have put forth this season.
Arizona State usually falls behind in its games. It has lost five times and has won four other times in which it trailed by eight or more points midway through the second half. If Utah gets a 10-point lead midway through the second half, don't expect the Utes to blow the lead. They will maintain it and cover the spread.
Why Arizona State Could Cover the Spread
The Sun Devils are a weird team, but they play close games. That's what they do under coach Bobby Hurley. They're not good enough to blow teams out, but they're also not weak enough to get blown out. They fight and scratch and claw and usually make good teams earn wins. ASU could lose this game by six at home and still cover. That's hard to pass up.
Final Utah-Arizona State Prediction & Pick
Utah is better, but ASU plays close games. Take the Sun Devils against the spread. Utah might win outright, but ASU will keep it close.
Final Utah-Arizona State Prediction & Pick: Arizona State +6.5