Fresno State Bulldogs (12-20) vs. Utah State Aggies (26-5)
March 14, 2024 3:00 pm EDT
The Line: Utah State Aggies -11.5; Over/Under: -
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The Fresno State Bulldogs and the Utah State Aggies meet Thursday in Mountain West Tournament college basketball action from Thomas & Mack Center. Let’s get into our Fresno State vs Utah State prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Fresno State Bulldogs
The Bulldogs had a pretty choppy early run in the regular season, sitting at just 11-13 in early February. Fresno State would then finish off with losses to UNLV, Boise State, San Diego State, Utah State, Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming in their final seven games for a rough 11-20 result.
On Wednesday in tournament action versus Wyoming, Fresno State was in trouble with a 40-33 deficit by halftime. The Bulldogs rallied on a 44-33 run the rest of the way however, and pulled off the win 77-73. Leading scorer Isaiah Pope put up 22 points with five rebounds and three steals in the victory.
Utah State Aggies
Over on the Aggies’ side, they lost just two of their first 21 games to Bradley and New Mexico. Utah State hit a 2-3 run in February with losses to San Diego State, Nevada and Colorado State. It’s been wins over San Diego State, Fresno State, Air Force, San Jose State and New Mexico since then.
Back on Saturday in the New Mexico matchup, the Aggies were trailing 44-39 at halftime. Utah State came back with a 48-41 run from there though, ultimately winning it 87-85. Ian Martinez was the leading scorer on 22 points, and Great Osobor doubled up on 21 points with 12 rebounds.
ANDREW’S FREE FRESNO STATE VS UTAH STATE PREDICTION
I’ll take a stab on Fresno State. Probably not touching this one, though. The Bulldogs pulled off a great upset win over Wyoming in their tournament matchup after a slow first half. Fresno State ended up shooting an excellent 53.2 percent from the field with a 34-29 rebounding edge, but did play an extremely sloppy game with 18 turnovers for 20 Cowboys points. It was the Bulldogs’ highest points total (77) since way back on January 27 versus Air Force (84).
As for Utah State, they gave up quite a bit on defense to New Mexico in their last game. The Aggies surrendered 52.3 percent shooting and got out-rebounded 36-29 (13-7 offensive). In the last meeting between these teams on February 27, Utah State eked out a 77-73 overtime road win. If Fresno can stay feisty in this tournament rematch (and cut down the turnovers) I could see the Bulldogs eking out a cover.
