Pacific vs BYU 12/29/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds
BYU Cougars (10-5) vs. Pacific Tigers (7-8)
December 29, 2022 9:00 pm EDT
The Line: Pacific Tigers +6.5 / BYU Cougars -6.5; Over/Under: +150.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The BYU Cougars and the Pacific Tigers meet in college basketball action from the Alex G. Spanos Center on Thursday night.
The BYU Cougars will look to build on a 5th straight win after a 63-57 win over Weber State last time out. Rudi Williams leads the Cougars in with 13.7 PPG and 3 APG while Gideon George has 12 PPG with 6.1 RPG as well this season. Fousseyni Traore has 13.1 PPG with a team-high 8.4 RPG to lead BYU in rebounding while Spencer Johnson has 11 PPG and 4.3 RPG this season to cap off BYU’s group of double-digit scorers. Dallin Hall also has a team-high 3.5 APG to lead the Cougars in the assist department as well this season. As a team, BYU is averaging 76.6 points per game on 43.9% shooting from the field, 32.6% from three point range and 68.6% from the foul line so far this season.
The Pacific Tigers will try to build on a three-game win streak after a 74-65 win over Lamar in their last game. Keylan Boone has 10.8 PPG with 4.1 RPG in his nine games so far this year while Tyler Beard has 10.7 PPG and a team-high 3.2 APG to lead Pacific in the assist department this season. Luke Avdalovic has 10.7 PPG and Jordan Ivy-Curry has 10.7 PPG of his own to finish off the scoring in double figures for Pacific up to this point in the year. As a team, Pacific is averaging 75.5 PPG on 45.3% shooting from the field, 39.3% from three and 70.6% from the foul line this season.
BYU is 7-2 ATS in their last 9 games following an ATS loss and 1-7 ATS in their last 8 Thursday games while the over is 7-2 in their last 9 road games. Pacific is 1-8 ATS in their last 9 home games and 1-6 ATS in their last 7 home games against a team with a losing road record while the over is 15-5-1 in their last 21 home games.
I get the case to be made for Pacific as a home underdog here, but the problem with Pacific is that they’ve been so bad at covering the spread at home, that it makes it hard to get behind them, even if we’re getting a handful of points. BYU is simply the better team here and I look for the Cougars to start the meat of conference play with a win and cover on the road in this game.
