Baylor Bears vs Utah Utes Prediction, 1/25/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Baylor Bears vs Utah Utes

Date: Saturday, January 25, 2025

Location: Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, UT

TV: ESPN+

The Baylor Bears (11-6) are en route to Jon M. Huntsman Center on Saturday where they will attempt to defeat the Utah Utes (11-6).

The Baylor Bears played TCU and took a loss by a final of 74-71 in their last contest. In regard to fouls, the Bears finished with 11 and TCU racked up 15 fouls. They also converted 7 of 18 shots from 3-point land. TCU finished the game at 76.5% from the charity stripe by making 13 of 17 attempts. Furthermore, TCU snagged 38 boards (10 offensive, 28 defensive), but wasn't able to put a block in the stat sheet. TCU earned 14 assists and had 4 steals for this game. Pertaining to the defense, Baylor allowed the other team to go 50.9% from the field on 27 out of 53 shooting. They also recorded 17 assists in the matchup in addition to forcing 16 turnovers and earning 11 steals. In relation to pulling down rebounds, they collected 21 with 5 of them being of the offensive sort. From the free throw line, the Bears knocked down 12 of 18 tries for a rate of 66.7%. Baylor walked away from the game with a 39.7% field goal percentage (25 of 63) and knocked down 9 out of their 25 3-point shots.

Norchad Omier is a guy who was a major factor in this contest. He went 54.5% from the field and also totaled 1 assist. He played 31 minutes and also snagged 5 rebounds. He accounted for 20 points on 6 out of 11 shooting.

Get all of our NCAA Expert Picks

Baylor will take the court with a win-loss record of 11-6 on the year. They are averaging 80.8 pts per contest (53rd in college) while shooting 46.6% from the field. The Bears are hitting 36.4% on shots from downtown (155 of 426) and 70.8% from the charity stripe. As a unit, Baylor is pulling down 36.9 boards per game and has totaled 276 assists this season, which has them ranked 135th in Division 1 in terms of passing the ball. They are giving up possession 11.2 times per game and as a team they commit 15.5 personal fouls per game.

Defensively, the Bears are able to force 14.9 turnovers per game while drawing 15.9 fouls. They are 228th in the country in allowing assists to the opposition with 254 surrendered for the season. The Bears defense is giving up a field goal percentage of 43.4% (405 of 934) and they surrender 32.6 rebounds per game as a team. They are giving up 37.0% on 3-point attempts while they are 94th in college hoops in points per game from their opponents (68.5).

When they last stepped on the court, the Utah Utes went home victorious with a score of 73-72 against BYU. The Utes earned 31 defensive rebounds and 6 offensive rebounds totaling 37 in this game. They also turned it over 9 times, while recording 4 steals in this contest. BYU was called for 26 fouls in this matchup which got the Utes to the free throw line for a total of 32 attempts. They were able to make 17 of the free throw tries for a clip of 53.1%. When discussing three-point shots, Utah made 6 of their 23 tries (26.1%). When the final whistle blew, the Utes shot 25 out of 56 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 44.6%. The Utes permitted BYU to convert 30 of 78 tries from the floor which left them with a shooting percentage of 38.5% in the game. They shot 26.7% from 3-point land by going 8 out of 30 and finished the game at 4 of 10 at the free throw line (40.0%). When it comes to cleaning the glass, Utah permitted BYU to collect 37 in all (13 on the offensive side).

Ezra Ausar pitched in for the Utes for this contest. He knocked down 11 of 15 in the matchup giving him a field goal percentage of 73.3%, and had 6 rebounds. He accumulated 26 points in his 31 mins on the hardwood and had 2 dimes for the contest.

Utah has a mark of 11-6 on the year. The Utes have committed 17.8 personal fouls every game and they go 63.1% from the free throw line. Their rate of assisting teammates is at 19.9 times per contest (2nd in college) and they turn the ball over 11.7 times per contest. Utah has accumulated 1,363 pts on the year (80.2 per game) and they collect 40.6 boards per game. On the offensive side of the ball, the Utes are hitting on 46.8% from the field, which has them ranked 91st in college.

The Utes on defense are ranked 134th in D-1 in points given up per game with 70.0. They are forcing their opponents into 11.8 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 39.8% from the floor (31st in Division 1). The Utah defense concedes 31.8% on 3-point attempts (132 of 415) and opponents are connecting on 68.7% of their shots from the charity stripe. They relinquish 12.5 assists and 35.6 total boards per game, which is ranked 141st and 254th in those categories on the defensive end.

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Baylor

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here