The Portland Pilots take on the BYU Cougars in a WCC Tournament second-round game. Check out our West Coast Tournament odds series for our Portland BYU prediction and pick. Find out how to watch Portland BYU.
The BYU Cougars and Portland Pilots have arrived at a final, decisive point in their college basketball journey this season. They get one last chance to compensate for the tumbles and stumbles which have marked the past four months. BYU lost at home to South Dakota and Utah Valley and continued to let winnable games slip away at home in Provo. The Cougars collected a few notable wins, such as an upset of Creighton and then a win over archrival Utah, but they couldn't finish a lot of games against good teams at home. They led Gonzaga by five points in the final three minutes of regulation and let the Zags slip away. They led Saint Mary's late but allowed the Gaels to win in the final seconds. Time after time, BYU had a winnable game in its hands with a few minutes left and regulation and allowed it to drip through its fingers. BYU has simply not been a good endgame team or a good close-game team this season.
Portland started the season really well, almost beating North Carolina and then successfully beating Villanova. It seemed that the Pilots, under young coach Shantay Legans, were going to go places and rise up the leaderboard in the West Coast Conference. However, when they got into WCC play, they were smoked. The elite teams in the conference smacked them down, and they just weren't able to gain any traction.
Portland. BYU. Two teams. Two frustrating seasons. One chance to make it right in Las Vegas at the WCC Tournament.
Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Portland-BYU West Coast Tournament odds.
West Coast Tournament Odds: Portland-BYU Odds
Portland Pilots: +6.5 (-110)
BYU Cougars: -6.5 (-110)
Over: 153.5 (-110)
Under: 153.5 (-110)
How To Watch Portland vs. BYU
TV: BYU TV
Stream: FuboTV, WCC Network
Time: 9:00 p.m. ET, 6:00 p.m. PT
*Watch Portland-BYU LIVE with fuboTV (Click for free trial)*
Why Portland Could Cover the Spread
You saw earlier in this piece that BYU has allowed games to slip away all season long. When games move to a tournament setting and the pressure of the moment increases, a team such as BYU — which has had a hard time playing its best when the pressure is the greatest and the stakes are the highest — is not likely to hold up well. Portland has not had a good season, but the Pilots nearly swept San Francisco in WCC play and have still shown glimpses of the team which played so well in November. This could be a night when Portland rediscovers that winning edge and plays far better than it has in recent weeks.
Why BYU Could Cover the Spread
The Cougars have been close all season long. When a talented team lets a lot of close games slip away in the regular season, the conference tournament is often the time when that time kicks it up a notch and finds a way to finish the games it wasn't closing down in previous weeks. BYU could undergo that positive transformation in Las Vegas at the WCC Tournament.
The other thing to point out here is that BYU didn't merely lose a bunch of close games; it lost close games against the very best of the WCC. It played four legitimately close games against Saint Mary's (twice) and Gonzaga (twice). There's real quality on this team, and that quality will emerge against Portland.
Final Portland-BYU Prediction & Pick
Stay away from any game with two unreliable teams.
Final Portland-BYU Prediction & Pick: BYU -6.5
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