Montana vs Southern Utah 2/7/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Southern Utah Thunderbirds and the Montana Grizzlies meet in college basketball action from the Dahlberg Arena on Monday night.

The Southern Utah Thunderbirds will look to build on their four-game win streak after an 84-72 win over Eastern Washington last time out. Tevian Jones leads the Thunderbirds in scoring with 15.7 PPG with 5.2 RPG while John Knight III has 15 PPG with 4.2 RPG and a team-high 4.1 APG to lead the Thunderbirds in assists this season. Dre Marin has 11.8 PPG with 4.1 RPG and 2.6 APG this season while Maizen Fausett has 12.6 PPG with a team-high 8.9 RPG to make up the group of double-digit scorers for Southern Utah up to this point in the season. As a team, Southern Utah is averaging 79.8 PPG on 45.6% shooting from the field, 33.3% from three and 71.1% from the foul line while allowing 73.2 PPG on 42.4% shooting from the field and 33.1% from three this season.

The Montana Grizzlies will look to rebound from back-to-back losses after an 86-63 road loss to Idaho State last time out. Josh Bannan leads Montana in scoring and rebounding with 13.6 PPG and a team-high 8 RPG to lead the Griz on the glass as well while Robby Beasley III has 11.2 PPG and Brandon Whitney has 10.2 PPG to cap off the trio of double-digit scorers for Montana so far this season. Cameron Parker also has 9 PPG with a team-high 5.2 APG to lead the Grizzlies in the assist department this season. As a team, Montana is averaging 72 PPG on 44.9% shooting from the field, 34.1% from three and 79.9% from the foul line while allowing 64 PPG on 42.6% shooting from the field and 35.4% from three this season.

Southern Utah is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600 and 2-8 ATS in their last 10 games following a win while the over is 5-1 in their last 6 road games. Montana is 6-2 ATS in their last 8 home games and 7-1 ATS in their last 8 games following an ATS loss while the over is 18-8 in their last 26 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600.

I get the case to be made either way here, as this is a fantastic matchup between two hot Big Sky teams. With that said, Montana’s done their best work at home this season by far, going 11-0 SU and the line is low enough that if you side with Southern Utah, you’re saying the Thunderbirds win outright and I’m not sure I see it. Give me Montana here.