UC Irvine vs Utah Prediction College Basketball Picks 3/19/24

• Recent betting trends and streaks involving UC Irvine

• Recent betting trends and streaks involving Utah

• Recent betting trends in games played between UC Irvine and Utah

• A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the UC Irvine vs Utah game

UC Irvine Betting Preview

The Anteaters had a promising campaign going this year, finishing off their first 28 games at 20-8 overall. UC Irvine hit a four-game win streak at the end of the regular season. Those victories came versus CSU Northridge, Long Beach State, Cal Poly and CSU Fullerton.

UC Irvine faced off against Long Beach State again during their first matchup of the conference tournament on Friday. The Anteaters were down 47-38 going into the second half and couldn’t make the comeback in an eventual 83-79 loss. Tops in scoring during the losing effort was Justin Hohn with 19 points and two assists.

Utah Utes Betting Preview

Over on the Utah side, they were 11-2 early on in the year but were only able to win consecutive games twice for the rest of the season. The Utes finished on a 2-2 run with wins over Stanford and California, then blew out Arizona State last Wednesday in the conference tournament.

Matched up against Colorado on Thursday, the Utes were outmatched. Utah was within three points at the break, then hit a 39-28 deficit from there in a 72-58 loss. Leading the way in the defeat were Branden Carlson (six rebounds) and Hunter Erickson (bench), each with 13 points.

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Utah Utes Team Facts

• Utah has won each of its last nine games against non-Conference opponents at Jon M. Huntsman Center.
• Four of Utah's last five games against non-Conference opponents have produced a total of 145 or fewer points.
• Utah has won the first half in each of its last 10 night games at Jon M. Huntsman Center against non-AP-ranked opponents.

UC Irvine Anteaters Team Facts

• UC Irvine has won 16 of its last 17 night games.
• Each of UC Irvine's last eight Tuesday games against non-Conference opponents have produced a total of 143 or fewer points.
• UC Irvine has won the first half in nine of its last 10 night games against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Matchup/League Facts

• Utah ranks 17th among Division 1 teams for assists per game this season (17.4).
• Utah ranks T26th among Division 1 teams for field goals made per game this season (29.2).
• UC Irvine ranks T16th among Division 1 teams for opponent three-point field goal attempts per game this season (17.7).
• UC Irvine ranks 20th among Division 1 teams for opponent three-point field goals made per game this season (5.8).

UC IRVINE VS UTAH PREDICTION

I’m going to stick with UC Irvine here. The Anteaters really only had one major disparity in the Long Beach State loss. That weakness came at the free throw line, as UC Irvine hit just 10-of-19 (52.6 percent) compared to 22-of-25 (88 percent) for the Beach. The good news is that the Anteaters have scored very well for most of the year. They’ve hit 72 or more points in 14 straight games.

As for Utah, they’ve been below 66 points in two of the last three games. To be fair however, the Utes have faced some tricky teams lately. Utah has also scored 85 or more points in four of their last six outings, so their offense does work in the right circumstances. This matchup should be fun if both teams play to their capabilities, and I like the Anteaters to keep the pace.