Utah visits Saunders and No. 23 BYU

By Canadian Press on March 8, 2025.

Utah Utes (16-14, 8-11 Big 12) at BYU Cougars (22-8, 13-6 Big 12)

Provo, Utah; Saturday, 10 p.m. EST

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Cougars -12.5; over/under is 153.5

BOTTOM LINE: No. 23 BYU takes on Utah after Richie Saunders scored 23 points in BYU’s 88-85 overtime win over the Iowa State Cyclones.

The Cougars are 14-2 in home games. BYU is fourth in the Big 12 in rebounding averaging 33.7 rebounds. Keba Keita paces the Cougars with 7.8 boards.

The Utes are 8-11 against Big 12 opponents. Utah scores 75.4 points and has outscored opponents by 4.1 points per game.

BYU makes 48.7% of its shots from the field this season, which is 7.3 percentage points higher than Utah has allowed to its opponents (41.4%). Utah scores 5.4 more points per game (75.4) than BYU allows to opponents (70.0).

TOP PERFORMERS: Saunders averages 2.3 made 3-pointers per game for the Cougars, scoring 16.1 points while shooting 43.9% from beyond the arc. Egor Demin is shooting 38.9% and averaging 10.1 points over the past 10 games.

Gabe Madsen is averaging 15.5 points for the Utes. Ezra Ausar is averaging 14.9 points and 5.1 rebounds over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cougars: 8-2, averaging 81.7 points, 32.1 rebounds, 17.7 assists, 6.1 steals and 2.7 blocks per game while shooting 49.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.2 points per game.

Utes: 4-6, averaging 73.4 points, 34.7 rebounds, 15.7 assists, 6.2 steals and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 43.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.6 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press