California Baptist vs. Utah Valley WAC Tournament odds and predictions

The California Baptist Lancers (24-8) and Utah Valley Wolverines (25-7) meet in the WAC Tournament final Saturday in Las Vegas, Nevada. The contest at Orleans Arena will tip off at 11:59 p.m. ET (ESPN2). Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s NCAA basketball odds around the California Baptist vs. Utah Valley odds and make our expert college basketball picks and predictions for the best bets.

California Baptist defeated third-seeded Utah Tech 86-72, covering as a 7.5-point favorite as the Over (143.5) cashed in a Friday semifinal. The No. 2-seed Lancers — 13-5 in conference play — last lost Feb. 19 (on the road to these Wolverines). They are 5-0 since with 4 wins of 12 or more points.

By way of a 14-4 mark across 18 WAC games, Utah Valley is the No. 1 seed in Vegas. The Wolverines, who took 2 of 3 regular-season games against Cal Baptist, advanced to Saturday’s tourney final with a 67-65 (Under 136.5) win over +8.5 No. 4 seed UT Arlington on Friday. UVU led by as many as 16 inside the 10-minute mark but needed a pair of Jackson Holcombe free throws with 19 seconds left, followed by a blocked UTA shot, to prevail by the 2-point margin.

– Rankings: USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

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California Baptist vs. Utah Valley odds

Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 1 p.m. ET.

• Moneyline (ML): California Baptist +135 (bet $100 to win $135) | Utah Valley -160 (bet $160 to win $100)
• Against the spread (ATS): California Baptist +3.5 (-118) | Utah Valley -3.5 (-102)
• Over/Under (O/U): 139.5 (O: -105 | U: -115)

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California Baptist vs. Utah Valley picks and predictions

Prediction

Utah Valley 68, California Baptist 67

No interest; PASS.

Cal Baptist is 11-6 ATS in road/neutral-site games. In the Feb. 19 loss at Utah Valley, the Lancers had an atrocious shooting performance (29%) and were routed 65-46. They have since gone 5-0 ATS.

Cal Baptist filed ATS wins in this season’s other 2 series meetings (as a 7.5-point road underdog on Dec. 29 and a 1.5-point home dog in an outright win on Jan. 24). The Lancers have been excellent on defense of late (28th in BartTorvik defensive efficiency since Feb. 1), and a veteran rotation has played well at both ends of the floor in recent weeks.

That veteran Cal Baptist core is led by junior G Dominique Daniels Jr., who scored 47 against the Wolverines on Jan. 24 and tallied 41 points in Friday’s win. Since Jan. 21, Daniels has registered a .532 effective field-goal percentage while averaging 27.1 points per game.

TAKE CALIFORNIA BAPTIST +3.5 (-118).

The Under is 20-12 across all Cal Baptist games this season.

Utah Valley has filed slower pace numbers over recent weeks, and the Under is 4-0 in the Wolverines’ neutral-site games. The tempo mix here, especially when considering recent trends, says slower-than-average possession churn. Don’t expect a lot of 3s: the 3 regular-season meetings saw the Wolverines and Lancers combine for just 24 made triples.

Add in the neutral venue and what’s on the line: the UNDER 139.5 (-115) has value.

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