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The Utah Utes and the BYU Cougars will meet in another Holy War on Saturday night. Utah is looking to go back to the NCAA Tournament after missing out last season, while BYU is looking to return after a two-year hiatus.
However, the real story is that these teams will be playing for the first time in two years after Utah cancelled last year’s meeting. The Utes cancelled the meeting because two years ago BYU guard Nick Emery threw a punch at a Utah player and Utes coach Larry Krystkowiak did not like how the Cougars responded. The series had been played for 70 straight years before that and there will be lots of emotion on both sides.
This war on the floor will go down Saturday, December 16, 2017, at 11 p.m. ET at the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah. The game will be televised live on ESPN2. We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Saturday schedule.
Opening College Basketball Odds at BookMaker.eu
BYU has not performed well so far this season. The Cougars are 7-2, but most of their wins have come against weak competition. They did beat Princeton on the road at the start of the year as an underdog, yet dropped games against both Texas-Arlington and Alabama. Under has been a solid bet in BYU games and has cashed in four of their last five clashes.
The Utes have only had one real hiccup so far this year, losing by 27 points as a three-point favorite over UNLV. Other than that, it’s hard to complain with this team’s performance. Utah is sitting at 7-2 and its other loss came on the road against Butler. Utah has covered in each of its last five wins, so keep that in mind here.
Matchup to Watch
Utah has been very sharp on the defensive side of the ball and has leaned on its defense thus far. The Utes are holding opponents to 40.1 percent shooting from the floor, but where they really shine is in guarding the perimeter.
Opposing teams are hitting just 26.3 percent of their three-point attempts against BYU this season. That is an absurdly low number and has kept teams from coming back into games against them.
BYU is averaging 22.5 three-point attempts per game and has been marginal at shooting the three. The Cougars are hitting just 36 percent from the floor and might not have much success against Utah.
Player to Watch
Yoeli Childs has really stepped into his own as a sophomore. Childs is a 6’8 forward from the Beehive State who had a solid freshman campaign and is now one of the team’s leaders.
He is tied for the team lead in points through the early part of the year, putting up an average of 16.2 PPG. Childs has also proven adept on the glass too. He is pulling down 8.9 rebounds per game, and while those numbers aren’t as good as last year based on how many minutes he’s getting now, he’s still the team’s leading rebounder.
Utah is going to have to key in on Childs down low. The Utes have had some trouble guarding interior players and Childs could have a big game.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
Expect this one to be chippy from the outset. Many people have commented on BYU’s rough play over the last few seasons, but Utah was the first to do something about it. The fact that the Cougars have only issued a half-hearted apology is sure to have rankled a few more feathers.
As a result, the officials are going to officiate this game tightly early on. You’ll hear a lot of whistles as the refs try not to recreate what happened the last time these teams played and that will lead to a game that goes over the total.
College Basketball Odds: BYU 82, Utah 79
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