It doesn’t seem to matter where the two teams sit in the standings or who is on the court, but USC has been unable to beat Utah. The Trojans have gone 0-7 SU and ATS in their past seven against the Utes, with USC’s last victory against Utah coming in January 2013.
The Trojans find themselves on shaky ground, as they have dropped two of their past three games. One loss is easy to swallow, dropping an early conference game to a ranked Oregon squad doesn’t look bad, but losing to a middling Cal program is hard to overlook. Turnovers have been killing USC, as the Trojans have averaged 15.6 in their past three games, which is four more than their season mark.
Utah is sporting one of the highest-scoring squads in the Pac-12 thanks to powerful post play. The Utes are scoring 57 percent of their buckets off two-pointers with the team's top two scorers both over six-foot-eight. After missing the first eight games of the year, David Collette has made up for lost time with the junior averaging a team-high 15.4 ppg.
Sportsbook Odds & Computer Pick
The Utah Utes were listed as -3-point favorites at most sportsbooks tracked by Odds Shark earlier in the day. It opened first at Sportsbook, where the over/under betting odds total was expected shortly.
USC Trojans vs Utah Utes Matchup
Team Betting Records & Power Rankings
The Utah Utes bring a 11-4 record (6-6-1 ATS) to this tilt against the 15-2 Trojans, who are 8-8 ATS. Those OVER/UNDER betting have witnessed Utah go 7-5-1 so far and the USC Trojans go 8-8.
The power rankings show a disparity between these teams, with the Utah Utes rated this week at No. 85 and the USC Trojans sitting at No. 96.
Statistical Matchup
Offensively, the game matches up Utah's No. 48 nationally ranked offense (80.07 points per game) against a USC Trojans defense that sits as the No. 114 at 69.94 PPG. The Utah Utes have been averaging 50.23% from the field, more than the Trojans have managed so far this season (45.42% on average).
Recent Outings Betting Recap
The Trojans got 20 points from Chimezie Metu, but it was California that prevailed in a 74-73 final on Sunday at Galen Center.
Kyle Kuzma scored 26 points and helped out with 26 rebounds for Utah on Saturday, leading the Utes to a 88-82 victory over Arizona State at Wells Fargo Arena.
Next Betting Matchups
USC at Colorado, Sunday, January 15th
Utah at UCLA, Saturday, January 14th