VCU (28-6) vs. BYU (24-9)
March 20, 2025 4:05 pm EDT
The Line: BYU -2.5; Over/Under: 146.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The VCU Rams and the BYU Cougars meet Thursday in college basketball action from the Ball Arena. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a BYU vs VCU Prediction.
VCU Recap
The VCU Rams come into the NCAA tournament as the conference championship out of the A-10, finishing the year with an overall record of 28-6, including a 15-3 mark in A-10 conference play. As the regular season champion in the A-10 and the conference tournament 1-seed, VCU took down St. Bonaventure, Loyola Chicago and George Mason on their way to the A-10 title.
Rams Back In Big Dance For Second Time In The Last Three Years
Max Shulga leads the Rams in scoring and assists with 15.1 PPG and 4 APG along with 5.9 RPG and 1.8 SPG while Joe Bamisile has 15.1 PPG with 5.1 RPG. Zeb Jackson has 10.4 PPG with 3.7 RPG and Phillip Russell has added 10.6 PPG with 2.2 APG to cap off the scoring in double figures for VCU. Jack Clark’s added 9.6 PPG and 6.9 RPG to lead VCU on the glass so far this season. As a team, VCU is averaging 77.1 PPG on 44.6% shooting from the field, 33.4% from three, and 74.4% from the foul line this season.
Why the VCU Rams will win
- VCU has won 12 of its last 13 games.
- BYU has lost each of its last five NCAA Tournament games.
BYU Recap
The BYU Cougars come into the NCAA Tournament on behalf of the Big 12, finishing the year with an overall record of 24-9 including a 14-6 mark in Big 12 conference play. As the 4-seed, BYU knocked off Iowa State before falling to eventual conference tournament champ Houston in the semifinals.
Cougars In Tournament For Back-To-Back Seasons
Richie Saunders leads BYU in scoring with 16 PPG along with 4.4 RPG. Egor Demin has 10.3 PPG with 3.8 RPG and a team-high 5.4 APG to lead the Cougars in assists and cap off the pair of double-digit scorers for BYU so far this season. Trevin Knell has added 9 PPG while Fousseyni Traore has 8.6 PPG with 5.3 RPG and 1.4 APG. Kanon Catchings has 7.6 PPG with 2.3 RPG, Dawson Baker has 7.6 PPG while Dallin Hall has 7.1 PPG with 4.2 APG. Keba Keita has 7.1 PPG with a team-high 7.9 RPG to lead the Cougars on the glass up to this point in the year. As a team, BYU is averaging 81 PPG on 48.2% shooting from the field, 37.4% from three, and 70.2% from the foul line this season.
Why the BYU Cougars will win
- VCU has lost each of its last 11 day games against AP-ranked opponents.
- BYU has won nine of its last 10 games.
Total Points Facts
- Each of VCU’s last seven day games against AP-ranked opponents at a neutral venue has produced a total of 144 or fewer points.
- Four of BYU’s last five games against non-AP-ranked opponents at a neutral venue have produced a total of 141 or fewer points.
BYU vs VCU Prediction
I’m on VCU here. I get why BYU could be favored here, as this team is familiar with the issues that the altitude in Denver brings. However, I still don’t trust the Cougars away from home, and the Cougars at times had issues dealing with physical defensive units. VCU creates a lot of pressure on the defensive end of the floor and this is a fairly experienced VCU team as well, I think the Rams could make BYU extremely uncomfortable here and potentially win this game outright. Give me VCU and the free bucket.
