Southern Utah vs Portland State 1/17/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Portland State Vikings and the Southern Utah Thunderbirds meet in college basketball action from the America First Events Center on Monday night.

The Portland State Vikings will look to build on their 67-62 win over Sacramento State last time out. James Jean-Marie leads the Vikings in scoring and rebounding, with 12.9 PPG and 9.8 RPG while Marlon Ruffin has 12.2 PPG with 3.7 RPG as the only other double-digit scorer for Portland State so far this season. Khalid Thomas has 9.5 PPG with 6.7 RPG and 1.8 SPG and Ezekiel Alley has a team-high 3.2 APG this season. As a team, Portland State is averaging 68 PPG on 39.4% shooting from the field, 25% from three and 74.1% from the foul line while allowing 66.7 PPG on 40.5% shooting from the field and 32.8% from three this season.

The Southern Utah Thunderbirds will try to rebound from a 91-81 home loss to Northern Colorado last time out. John Knight III has a team-high 15.4 PPG and 4 APG with 4.1 RPG as well while Tevian Jones has 13.5 PPG with 4.4 RPG and Dre Marin has 11.8 PPG with 4.8 RPG and 2.4 APG this season. Maizen Fausett has 12.4 PPG with a team-high 8.6 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 78.4 PPG on 43.9% shooting from the field, 31% from three and 69.1% from the foul line while allowing 72.6 PPG on 41.6% shooting from the field and 30.8% from three this season.

Portland State is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games against a team with a winning record and 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600 while the over is 14-2 in their last 16 Monday games. Southern Utah is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games overall and 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games against a team with a winning percentage below .400 while the under is 5-0 in their last 5 games against a team with a losing record.

I get the allure of points with Portland State, but realistically, this is a spot where I’m not sure the Vikings can keep pace. Southern Utah by far plays their best ball at home this season and has had no problems scoring points in bunches. Recent form may scare some away as SUU is just 1-5 ATS in their last 6, but not me. I think this is a 15+ point win for the Thunderbirds so give me Southern Utah laying the points here.