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Utah Valley Wolverines @ Jax. State Gamecocks

Current Records: Utah Valley 5-5, Jax. State 5-4

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What to Know

The Jax. State Gamecocks will face off against the Utah Valley Wolverines at 5:00 p.m. ET on Saturday at Pete Mathews Coliseum. The timing is sure in the Gamecocks' favor as the squad sits on three straight wins at home while the Wolverines have been banged up by three consecutive losses on the road.

Jax. State will head into Sunday's contest out to bounce back: they lost a heartbreaker on Sunday after a huge 30-point victory in their prior game. They fell just short of South Alabama by a score of 76-74.

Jao Ituka put forth a good effort for the losing side as he went 6 for 9 en route to 22 points. He had some trouble finding his footing against James Madison back in November, so this was a nice turnaround. Another player making a difference was Michael Houge, who went 6 for 10 en route to 17 points plus eight rebounds and two blocks.

Meanwhile, Utah Valley had to suffer through a four-game losing streak, but that streak is no more. Everything went their way against North Dakota on Wednesday as Utah Valley made off with an 80-57 win. The Wolverines have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won three games by 23 points or more this season.

Utah Valley was working as a unit and finished the game with 22 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as North Dakota only posted seven.

Jax. State's defeat dropped their record down to 5-4. As for Utah Valley, the victory got them back to even at 5-5.

Keep an eye on the arc in Saturday's matchup: Jax. State has made nailing deep shots look easy this year this season, having averaged 8.7 threes per game. It's a different story for Utah Valley, though, as they've been averaging only 6. Given Jax. State's sizable advantage in that area, Utah Valley will need to find a way to close that gap.

While only Utah Valley took care of their fans the last time they played, both teams pleased bettors by covering the spread. Going forward, Jax. State is expected to win a tight contest, barring any buzzer beaters. Bettors picking Utah Valley against the spread have some confidence (to put it mildly), as the team is sitting on a four-game streak of failing to cover when playing as the underdog.

Odds

Jax. State is a slight 2.5-point favorite against Utah Valley, according to the latest college basketball odds.

The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Gamecocks as a 2-point favorite.


The over/under is 142 points.

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