An unforgettable WAC Tournament is set to culminate on Saturday night with the championship game. After earning thrilling victories in their respective semifinal games, the 5-seed Grand Canyon Antelopes and 3-seed Southern Utah Thunderbirds are will battle it out for the conference’s automatic bid into March Madness. If the previous rounds have been any indication, fans should expect a wild title game to unfold in Las Vegas. The Grand Canyon vs Southern Utah odds and college basketball betting picks suggest that this game is a total toss-up.
The following game preview provides the college basketball betting odds, trends and KenPom ratings before sharing our official Grand Canyon vs Southern Utah prediction for the WAC Tournament Championship Game.
Grand Canyon vs Southern Utah Prediction | College Basketball Betting Picks
WAC Tournament Final
(5) Grand Canyon Antelopes (23-11, 11-7 WAC) vs. (3) Southern Utah Thunderbirds (22-11, 12-6 WAC)
Time: 11:30 p.m. EST
Venue: Orleans Arena — Las Vegas, NV
Coverage: ESPN2
Grand Canyon Antelopes Preview
The WAC Tournament has been competitive across the board so far, and all three of Grand Canyon’s games have been no exception. The Antelopes were able to outlast 12-seed UT Arlington in the First Round on Tuesday before slipping past 4-seed Seattle in Thursday’s quarterfinal. Then, in the Semifinal Round, GCU overcame a six-point halftime deficit to beat top-seeded Sam Houston State. Bryce Drew’s team is very fun to watch on the offensive end and should generate more fireworks in the title game.
Southern Utah Thunderbirds Preview
After outlasting pesky 11-seed Utah Tech in the quarterfinals to win by a single point, Southern Utah found itself down by 23 with 16 minutes to play in their semifinal matchup against Utah Valley. Rather than roll over, Todd Simon’s team mounted a furious and incredible comeback that was capped off by a Tevian Jones four-point play in the dying seconds for the win. The Thunderbirds will now look to cap off their memorable WAC Tournament run with a championship in their first season in the conference.
Grand Canyon vs Southern Utah College Basketball Betting Picks and Odds
College basketball betting odds for Grand Canyon vs Southern Utah can be found at BetOnline Sportsbook.
Moneyline: GCU: (+100) | SUU: (-120)
Point Spread: GCU: +1 (-110) | SUU: -1 (-110)
Total: 148.5 — Over: (-110) | Under: (-110)
College Basketball KenPom Ratings
The following table displays the KenPom adjusted efficiency ratings for the two teams involved in Saturday’s WAC Tournament Final. In addition to overall efficiency margin, offensive, defensive and tempo ratings are included.
| Team | Overall AdjEM (Rk) | AdjO (Rk) | AdjD (Rk) | AdjT (Rk) |
| Grand Canyon | +5.11 (112) | 112.1 (63) | 107.0 (210) | 65.3 (291) |
| Southern Utah | +6.70 (103) | 110.9 (83) | 104.2 (149) | 72.1 (16) |
Grand Canyon vs Southern Utah College Basketball Betting Trends
- Antelopes are 4-1 ATS in their last five games overall.
- 24 of the Antelopes’ last 28 games overall have gone OVER the total.
- Thunderbirds are just 1-4 ATS in their last five games following an ATS win.
- Thunderbirds are 15-7 ATS in their last 22 games against teams with a winning record.
- Antelopes won outright as a five-point betting underdog in the only previous head-to-head meeting against the Thunderbirds.
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Grand Canyon vs Southern Utah Prediction | College Basketball Betting Picks
One interesting element of this WAC Tournament Final is the fact that the two schools have only faced each other once before at the Division I level. Grand Canyon was able to score a five-point win on the road as an underdog in the lone regular-season meeting between the teams. Coincidentally, that victory kicked off what is now a five-game Antelopes winning streak entering Saturday’s title game.
It will be very interesting to see what both teams have left in the tank for tonight’s matchup. After all, this will be Grand Canyon’s fourth game in five days. Meanwhile, Southern Utah has endured back-to-back nailbiters just to make it this far. The game-winning shot by Tevian Jones against Utah Valley just 24 hours ago was by far one of the best highlights in any tournament across the country this week.
Both teams shot the ball very well in their head-to-head meeting which coincides with how they have fared for the better part of the season. Rayshon Harrison dropped 29 points to lead the Antelopes to the victory in St. George. GCU finished over 50% from the field and also hit on 41% of its three-point attempts. The Lopes continued offensive success down the stretch of the season is made even more impressive given that star guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. was lost to injury in mid-January.
One thing that was evident in the first matchup was that Southern Utah failed to achieve its usual balanced scoring output. While Maizen Fausett led the team with a game-high 31 points, Jones was second with only 14. Only three Thunderbirds finished in double figures scoring which may seem solid enough until one considers that they have five players averaging in double figures for the season.
For SUU to exact revenge in Las Vegas, moving the basketball will be critical. The Thunderbirds will also need to do a better job of defending the three-point line than they did in the semifinals. Despite the fact that the GCU Havocs will be out in full force, backing the more statistically sound team in a toss-up game seems like the pick to make.
SOUTHERN UTAH COVERS will be our official college basketball betting Grand Canyon vs Southern Utah prediction for the WAC Tournament Championship Game.
For what it’s worth, the ESPN Matchup Predictor gives Grand Canyon a 52.8% chance to win this game outright.
Bet: Southern Utah -1 (-110 at BetOnline Sportsbook)
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