Colorado (17-9) vs Utah (16-10)
February 24, 2024 at 09:00 PM EST
The Line: Betting Odds: Colorado Buffaloes -7 — Over/Under: 151.5
The Utah Utes and the Colorado Buffaloes meet Saturday in college basketball action from Coors Events Center. Utah is 16-10 overall this year and coming off a win over UCLA. As for Colorado, they beat USC in their last game to move to 17-9 on the season. Let’s get into our Utah vs. Colorado prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Pick Dawgz.
Utah Utes
The Utes opened up the season on a 14-5 run over their first 19 games. Since then Utah is just 2-5, though. The losses in that time came versus Washington State, Washington, Arizona, Arizona State and USC. The wins otherwise were versus Colorado and UCLA.
In the UCLA matchup on Sunday, the Utes came out of the break with a 36-34 deficit. Utah came back with a 36-33 run from there however, ultimately powering out the win 70-69. Branden Carlson (seven rebounds) and Deivon Smith (10 assists) each scored a team-high 17 points.
Colorado Buffaloes
Over on the Buffaloes’ side, they managed to go 15-5 in their first 20 games to start the year. Colorado has since hit a rough 2-4 stretch though, losing to Washington State, Utah, Arizona and UCLA alongside wins over only Arizona State and USC during that time.
Last weekend in the USC game, the Buffaloes were able to power out a close win in double-overtime. After a 39-33 deficit in the first half, Colorado posted 40 points in the second and 19 in the extra periods for a 92-89 win. KJ Simpson was tops on the team with 30 points and nine rebounds.
ANDREW’S FREE UTAH VS COLORADO PREDICTION
I’ll stay with Colorado. You could make a case either way here, though. The Buffaloes were able to power out a road win in their last matchup versus USC, hitting a nice 52.5 percent from the field with a 47-22 rebounding edge. The 21 turnovers were pretty awful though, so Colorado will need to get their ball control in line before Saturday’s outing.
These teams last saw each other on February 3 in a 73-68 road loss for the Buffaloes. In that defeat, Colorado shot just 37.9 percent fro the field but did have a 43-34 rebounding edge. It was a sloppy game overall with 28 total turnovers (14 each), which means this one could get wild as well. I like the Buffaloes to power out the home cover, but it’s a coin flip.