Situational Slam CBB 8*
(NCAAB) Utah Valley vs. Charlotte, 11/15/2023 7:00 PM, Score: 45 - 62
Point Spread: -5.50 | -114.00 Charlotte (Home)
Result: Win
NOTE: This line jumped on us from a -3 range up to the -5.5 / -6.5 range quickly on us. This happened after we had written it up. So we will reduce our rating from a Top Game 10* to an 8* play but we still like this pick as you can see in our ORIGINAL analysis below: #690 ASA PLAY ON 8* Charlotte (-) over Utah Valley, Wednesday at 7 PM ET - We’re getting some nice value with Charlotte laying on 3 points at home. For comparison’s sake Utah Valley played @ Sam Houston State last week and they were an 8 point underdog. Now they are only +3 vs a Charlotte team that we rate very close to Sam Houston. The reason this line is lower is because UVU upset Sam Houston in OT while Charlotte is coming off a loss as an underdog to Liberty who we have rated as the top team in Conference USA so not a surprise. Let’s not forget in Utah Valley's first game of the season they struggled with Carroll College of Montana winning by only 8 points despite making 10 more FT’s and 4 more 3 pointers. UVU had a great season last year but lost everyone of note. They don’t return a single starter and only 3% of their minutes played from a year ago. They have a new head coach and are in rebuild mode. Here we get Charlotte, who has won 13 of their last 17 home games, off a loss which we like. The 49ers had a very good season last year with a 22-14 record capped off by winning the post-season CBI tournament. They return some key components to that team and our power ratings have them closer to a 5.5 or 6 point favorite in this one. Charlotte is one of the slowest paced teams in the country which could be a problem for UVU who loves to play up tempo and was right at home vs Sam Houston State who also plays an up and down game. The 49ers were a very good shooting team last year ranking in the top 20 nationally in eFG% and they sit in the top 65 after 2 games this season. They’ve also made almost 81% of their FT’s this season. Utah Valley has been terrible from deep making only 22% of their 3’s through the first 2 games and they’ve made only 62% of their FT’s. Not a recipe for success on the road. Take Charlotte here.