NCAA Tournament First Round: (6) Texas Tech (17-10) vs (11) Utah State (20-8) prediction and college basketball game preview.
Texas Tech vs Utah State Broadcast
Date: Friday, March 19
Game Time: 1:45 pm ET
Venue: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, Bloomington, IN
Network: TNT
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Texas Tech vs Utah State Game Preview
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Why Utah State Will Win
It’s a dangerous Aggie team that’s built to give the Red Raiders a whole lot of problems.
The offense moves the ball around well enough to make the extra pass or three, the team is amazing on the boards at both ends – it’s second in the nation in rebounding margin – and the defense is a rock, allowing teams to hit just 39% from the field.
Utah State lost to San Diego State in the Mountain West championship, but before that it went on a terrific run of six straight wins, beating good offensive team after good offensive team.
Texas Tech likes playing tough defensive games, it has no problem keeping scores low, and the Aggies are more than happy to play along, but …
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Why Texas Tech Will Win
Utah State turns the ball over a whole lot.
It has a whole bunch of turnover problems, and that’s where the Texas Tech attacking defense kicks in.
The Red Raiders are fantastic at forcing mistakes, the offense is careful with the ball, and that alone might be enough to survive – they’ll be at least a +5 in turnover margin. Just start with assuming the Aggies will turn it over 15 times and go from there.
Offensively, Texas Tech is good from three, and Utah State isn’t. The Aggies haven’t hit 40% or better from the outside in five of the last six and six of the last eight games, and the Red Raiders should keep the struggles going.
What’s Going To Happen
Watch … out.
You’ll have to forgive Texas Tech if it’s a bit ticked off to get the very big, very tough, very annoying Utah State team that’s every bit as good at getting tough on the boards and nasty defensively as anyone in the Big 12.
San Diego State was able to get by the Aggies – after losing to them twice in the regular season – by hitting just about everything from the free throw line and getting going early. Make Utah State chase, and there’s a problem.
The Texas Tech defense will come through late and the team will survive, but this will be a major grind.
Texas Tech vs Utah State Prediction, Line
Texas Tech 70, Utah State 64
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Line: Texas Tech -5, o/u: 131.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 2
Must See Rating: 3.5
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