Utah State vs. San Diego Prediction and Odds for Thursday, November 17 (Elite Shooting Leads to OVER)
By Peter Dewey
Two undefeated West Coast teams face off on Thursday night when the WCC’s San Diego Toreros host the Utah State Aggies.
Utah State was an intriguing team in the Mountain West last season, and the team is off to a solid start this season with two 20-plus point wins against Bradley and Santa Clara on its way to 3-0.
Steve Lavin’s San Diego squad pulled off a big win against FGCU, who upset USC this season, in its toughest test of the season to date. The Toreros are fresh off of a 10-point win against NJIT.
KenPom has the Aggies as the No. 48 team in the country at the moment, while San Diego is outside the top-100. Lavin has added a bunch of top-tier talent to San Diego’s roster, including two Pac-12 transfers in Stanford's Jaiden Delaire and Oregon's Eric Williams Jr., but will that be enough to keep up with Utah State?
Here are the latest odds for this game:
Utah State vs. San Diego Odds, Spread and Total
Utah State vs. San Diego Prediction and Pick
The Aggies are rightful favorites in this matchup, but it’s interesting that KenPom projects this as a six-point win for them over San Diego.
Lavin may not be the greatest X’s and O’s coach ever, but there’s not doubt that he can recruit, and that’s going to give the Toreros a lot of talent to compete in the WCC, and when they take a step up against a team like Utah State.
So far this season, San Diego does two things at an elite level: limit turnovers and shoot the 3-ball.
The Toreros are 12th in the country in turnover percentage and 27th in 3-point percentage, shooting 42.1 percent from beyond the arc. Junior guard Seikou Sisoho Jawara (19.5 points per game), Williams, Jase Townsend and Marcellus Earlington are all averaging over 15.0 points per game for this balanced attack.
Utah State also shoots the 3-point shot at a high clip, ranking 33rd in the country, and is led by junior guard Steven Ashworth. The difference between these teams is that the Aggies are top-50 defense in the country while the Toreros are 173rd in adjusted defensive efficiency.
That being said, I’d rather take the OVER between two strong offensive teams that back the Aggies to cover 7.5 points on the road.
Find Peter Dewey’s full betting record here.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.