Southern Utah vs Idaho State 1/22/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Idaho State Bengals and the Southern Utah Thunderbirds meet Saturday in college basketball action from Centrum Arena Utah. Idaho State is fresh off a Thursday matchup versus Weber State. In that game the Bengals lost in blowout fashion. As for Southern Utah, they’re 10-5 this year and beat Portland State in their last outing. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

Idaho State has had a rough go of things this year. The Bengals started out at 1-8 with a lone opener win over Eastern Oregon. A 2-4 stretch came after that. The losses in that time were to UC Santa Barbara, Montana, Montana State and Weber State. 

In the Weber State rematch on Thursday, Idaho State fell behind 48-33 in the first half. The Bengals were outscored 47-30 from there in a 95-63 blowout loss. Leading scorer Liam Sorensen put up 16 points with three rebounds. 

Over on the Southern Utah side, they got off to a decent 9-4 start. The losses came to Dixie State, Saint Mary’s, California and Michigan. After another loss to Northern Colorado (and some postponements), the Thunderbirds beat Portland State on Monday.

Matched up against Portland State, the Thunderbirds took a 39-39 tie into halftime. Southern Utah was able to post a 47-37 advantage from there in an 86-76 win. Leading the way was Maizen Fausett, who doubled up on 21 points, 10 rebounds and two assists. 

The Thunderbirds are 1-6 ATS in the last seven overall and 8-3 ATS in their last 11 Saturday games. Southern Utah is 1-4 ATS in their last five at home. 

Meanwhile, the Bengals are 1-9 ATS in their last 10 road games and 7-19 ATS in their last 26 overall. Idaho State is 3-9-1 ATS in their last 13 Saturday games. 

PICK: I’m going to take a stab on Southern Utah. The Thunderbirds secured a plucky win in their last outing versus Portland State, shooting a scorching 61.5 percent from the field. Southern Utah also bagged 14 team assists and won the rebounding battle 32-27. 

Given that we’ve only seen the Thunderbirds play one game since January 1, it’s tough to know how this matchup will go. That said, Southern Utah has scored pretty well versus comparable opponents this year and I think they’ll be okay on a cover.