California vs Southern Utah College Basketball Picks, Best Bets and Odds 11/18/2021
Southern Utah Thunderbirds (1-2) vs. California Golden Bears (1-2)
November 18, 2021 10:00 pm EDT
The Line: California Golden Bears -3 ; Over/Under: 138
(Get latest betting odds)
The Southern Utah Thunderbirds and the California Golden Bears meet Thursday in college basketball action from Haas Pavilion. Southern Utah is currently 1-2 and fresh off a loss to Saint Mary’s in their last outing. As for Cal, they’re 1-2 as well. The Bears took out San Diego on Monday in their most recent game. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Southern Utah got their first win of the year in their opener versus Bethesda. The Thunderbirds scored 66 second-half points during a 116-74 victory. In game two versus Dixie State, Southern Utah ended up losing 83-76 to drop to .500 on the year.
Southern Utah got off to a very bad start in their last game versus Saint Mary’s, posting just 16 points in the first half. The Thunderbirds got better from there but still ended losing 70-51. John Knight was the top scorer with 11 points, five rebounds and two assists.
Over on the California side, their first two games didn’t go very well. The Golden Bears took a fairly shocking 80-67 loss to UC San Diego in their opener. Game two was much closer, but California still lost 55-52 to UNLV and dropped to 0-2.
In the San Diego game Monday, the Bears finally showed some life. Cal outscored the Toreros 43-38 in the second half on the way to a tense 75-70 win. Grant Anticevich was the top scorer in that one with his 17 points and six rebounds.
Cal is 4-1 ATS in their last five overall and 17-8 ATS in their last 25 at home. The under is 5-2 in the Bears’ last seven Thursday games.
Meanwhile, the Thunderbirds are 4-1 ATS in their last five after a straight-up loss and the over is 5-2 in their last seven Thursday games. The over is 18-7 in the Thunderbirds’ last 25 overall.
PICK: I’m going to try Cal here. Neither one of these teams has looked great, though. The Bears shot a nice 50 parent from the floor with 66.7 percent (10-of-15) from 3-point range in the San Diego game. It was just enough to offset the 38-31 rebounding deficit and eight turnovers.
As for Southern Utah, they put up a dud against Saint Mary’s in their last game, shooting just 35 percent overall with a 4-of-26 mark from 3-point range. I like the Thunderbirds to look better here but it’s still probably Cal’s cover to find.
