Utah Valley vs Abilene Christian 12/30/21 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds
Abilene Christian Wildcats (9-2) vs. Utah Valley Wolverines (9-3)
December 30, 2021 8:00 pm EDT
The Line: Utah Valley Wolverines -1.5 / Abilene Christian Wildcats +1.5; Over/Under: +132
(Get latest betting odds)
The Abilene Christian Wildcats and the Utah Valley Wolverines meet in college basketball action from the UCCU Center on Thursday night.
The Abilene Christian Wildcats will look to build on their 9th straight win in the form of a 74-58 win over Longwood last time out. Coryon Mason leads the Wildcats in scoring with 12.5 PPG while Mahki Morris has 11.3 PPG with 3.2 RPG as the only other double-digit scorer for ACU up to this point in the season. Alrion Simmons has 8.5 PPG with a team-high 4.9 RPG to lead the Wildcats on the glass while Damien Daniels has a team-high 3.8 APG to lead Abilene Christian in the assist department. As a team, Abilene Christian is averaging 84.3 PPG on 46.7% shooting from the field, 33.3% from three and 72.3% from the foul line while allowing 60.6 PPG on 38% shooting from the field and 27.8% from three this season.
The Utah Valley Wolverines will try to add to a 68-52 road win over the Washington Huskies last time out. Fardaws Almaq leads the Wolverines in scoring and rebounding, averaging a double-double per game with 19.4 PPG and 13.7 RPG while Justin Harmon has 12.1 PPG with 4.3 RPG and Connor Harding and Le’Tre Darthard each have 10+ PPG to make up the group of double-digit scorers for Utah Valley so far this season. Blaze Nield also has 7.6 PPG with a team-high 4.5 APG to lead the Wolverines in the assist department as well this season. As a team, Utah Valley is averaging 75.6 PPG on 45.6% shooting from the field, 34% from three and 72.7% from the foul line while allowing 64 PPG on 38.3% shooting from the field and 27.1% from three this season.
Abilene Christian is 8-1 ATS in their last 9 games against a team with a winning record and 8-1 ATS in their last 9 games against a team with a winning percentage above .600 while the under is 6-1 in their last 7 games following a win. Utah Valley is 7-1 ATS in their last 8 games following a win and 7-2 ATS in their last 9 games overall while the over is 6-2 in their last 8 home games.
I get the case that can be made either way here, as Abilene Christian is experienced, but they’re also small and a big like Almaq is salivating at this potential matchup. Either way, I’m expecting a high-octane track meet between two teams and I see this game getting up into the 140s, so give me the over in this one.
