Utah Puts Undefeated Home Mark on the Line Against No. 8 Arizona
Arizona vs Utah Game Lines: Wildcats Hold Steady at -5.5
The Arizona Wildcats will look to maintain their lead atop the Pac-12 Conference when they visit the Utah Utes on Thursday (8 p.m. ET).
The eighth-ranked Wildcats have held steady as 5.5-point favorites since lines opened. They’re also -225 on the moneyline, with the Utes priced +195 to win outright. The projected total is 160, down a smidge from 160.5.
What can bettors expect? Read on as we break down both teams and assess the Arizona vs Utah game lines.
Arizona Wildcats at Utah Utes 
Day/Time:
Location: Jon M. Huntsman Center; Salt Lake City
Streaming: Pac-12 Network
Betting Trends
The Arizona Wildcats are 14-8 ATS, including 5-5 in away or neutral-site games. Meanwhile, their record against the Over/Under is 10-11-1. Conversely, the Utah Utes are 11-11 ATS, including 8-4 at home. Utah has gone Under the total in 11 of its 22 games.
Be sure to remember these trends when assessing the Arizona vs Utah game lines.
‘Zona Setting Pace Atop Pac-12
Arizona (17-5, 8-3) has won three straight and five of its last six to stay atop the Pac-12 Conference. The Wildcats climbed to No. 8 in the AP Top 25 poll and are a projected No. 1 seed in Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology for ESPN. They are also sixth in KenPom while ranking in the top-11 in both offensive and defensive efficiency.
Oddsmakers have reacted accordingly, pricing the Wildcats +360 to reach the Final Four in Phoenix and +1400 to win the national championship, matching the fifth-shortest odds on the board.
Highlighting Arizona’s resume are wins over No. 9 Duke, No. 11 Wisconsin, and No. 16 Alabama. The Wildcats have been favored in nearly every game with the exception of their 78-73 victory over Duke, in which they were a 5-point underdog. They have the country’s fifth-best point differential at plus-16.9.
Led by North Carolina transfer Caleb Love, Arizona boasts one of the country’s top offenses. The Wildcats rank third in scoring (89.0) and 17th in shooting percentage (49%), according to NCAA basketball stats. They’ve topped 80 points in four of their last six games and have hit 90 on 10 different occasions. The Wildcats also rank third in rebounding (43.2), with Oumar Ballo averaging 9.4 per game.
A majority of the Wildcats’ production comes from beyond the arc, where they are shooting 36.5%
Arizona has covered in just two of its last seven games but is 14-8 ATS, including 12-7 when favored by five or more. In true road games, it’s 3-3 ATS. That’s important to remember when analyzing the Arizona vs Utah game lines.
Home Sweet Home
Utah got off to an 11-2 start but has cooled since. It’s just 4-5 over its last nine games, with all those losses coming on the road in Pac-12 play. With a record of 15-7 (6-5 Pac-12), Lunardi projects Utah as a No. 8 seed in next month’s NCAA Tournament.
Utah is now 12-0 at home, including a 73-68 win over Colorado on Saturday in which it covered as a 3.5-point favorite. The Utes also have a victory over No. 21 BYU on their ledger.
The Utes remain a longshot nationally, with oddsmakers pricing them +2500 to reach the Final Four and +10000 to win the NCAA title.
Utah ranks 77th nationally in scoring (78.4). Three different players are averaging double figures in points, led by 7-foot center Branden Carlson (16.1). Guards Gabe Madsen and Deivon Smith, a Georgia Tech transfer, are averaging 13.0 and 11.3 points, respectively. Smith has scored 17 or more points in three of his last four games.
Like Arizona, Utah gets a majority of its scoring from the perimeter. The Utes are hitting 3s at a 36.8% clip. At the same time, they’re shooting just 65.5% from the foul line. That certainly doesn’t help in close games.
Utah is just 11-11 ATS, but it has covered in eight of its 12 home games. The Utes are also 2-4 ATS as an underdog, matching their OU record.
Handicapping the Game
These teams met last month, with Arizona winning 92-73 at home to cover -12.5. Utah’s inability to defend the perimeter proved costly, as the Wildcats shot 10 of 18 from 3-point range. Conversely, the Utes were 10 for 35 from deep, well under their season rate of 36.8%.
Love led all scorers with 23 points.
In some ways, if you’re making your college basketball picks today, that performance feels like an anomaly. The Utes are a decent shooting team, but they certainly didn’t show it in that matchup. Madsen was the only Ute to score more than 11 points.
Carlson against the 7-foot Ballo promises to be a fascinating matchup in the paint.
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