Byu Cougars vs Utah Utes Picks and Predictions March 8th 2025

No. 23 BYU Banks on Toughness as Broken Utah Visits Provo

The No. 23 BYU Cougars enter Saturday night’s regular-season finale against visiting Utah riding a seven-game winning streak, including five Quad 1 victories. Their recent surge has locked up a bye into the Big 12 Conference tournament quarterfinals and positioned them for a strong seed in the NCAA Tournament.

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BYU Finds Its Identity in Toughness

The Cougars (22-8, 13-6) are coming off arguably their most impressive win of the season, an 88-85 double-overtime thriller at No. 10 Iowa State. BYU overcame 29 turnovers by dominating the boards (52-24) and hitting 11 3-pointers. Richie Saunders led the way with 23 points, including a perfect 13-for-13 showing at the free-throw line, while Dallin Hall added 22 points off the bench.

First-year head coach Kevin Young credits the team’s turnaround to a defining moment on Feb. 1 at UCF when BYU trailed at halftime before rallying for a 81-75 victory.

“Enough was enough in terms of teams punking us, pushing us, not letting us hold space, taking the ball from us,” Young said. “Since that moment, we have grown a ton in that area and are really imposing our will on teams now.”

That growth has made BYU a formidable force heading into the postseason.

Utah Struggles as Coaching Change Looms

While BYU is surging, Utah (16-14, 8-11) appears to be limping to the finish line. The Utes are 1-2 under interim coach Josh Eilert since Craig Smith was fired last week. Utah lost 71-69 to West Virginia on Tuesday despite 23 points from Gabe Madsen, who leads the team with 15.5 points per game.

Utah’s biggest issue has been free-throw shooting. The Utes hit just 22 of 32 from the line against West Virginia and rank 357th out of 364 Division I teams at 64% for the season.

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“We just haven’t been able to close out games,” Eilert said. “These guys are competing, but we need to execute better down the stretch.”

On Thursday, Utah announced former Utes standout Alex Jensen as the next head coach. The former NBA assistant played for Rick Majerus in the 1998 national championship game and is expected to bring G-League coach Andre Miller, another Utah alum, onto his staff.

Utah Took First Meeting, But BYU Looks Different Now

The Utes edged BYU 73-72 on Jan. 18 in Salt Lake City, led by Ezra Ausar’s career-high 26 points. But with BYU playing its best basketball of the season and Utah in flux, the Cougars will have the chance to exact revenge in Provo.

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