The NIT quarterfinals continue on Wednesday at campus sites with Utah of the Pac-12 hosting VCU of the Atlantic 10 and the Utes as solid favorites on the college basketball odds. The winner faces either Indiana State or Cincinnati in the semifinals on April 2.

MyBookie Line NCAAB Expert Analysis VCU vs Utah | Quarterfinals National Invitation Tournament Betting Odds

How to Bet VCU at Utah NCAA Basketball Odds & TV Info

When: Wednesday, 9 PM ET
Where: Jon M. Huntsman Center, Salt Lake City
TV: ESPN2
Stream: ESPN+
Radio: Tunein.com
Opening NCAAB Lines: Utah -6 (total 140.5)

Why Bet on VCU Rams?

VCU (24-13) won at Villanova 70-61 in an upset in Round 1 of the NIT and then went to South Florida on Sunday and upset the Bulls 70-65 to advance. VCU led for the final 18:46, but South Florida kept knocking at the door. The Bulls pulled to within 62-61 on a pair of Chris Youngblood free throws with 3:24 left. But VCU’s Tobi Lawal answered a short time later, finishing through contact in the paint for an and-1 bucket with 2:15 remaining. VCU senior guard Joe Bamisile scooped up an offensive rebound and laid the ball in to give the Rams some breathing room, at 66-61, with 1:26 on the clock.

The Bulls would again trim the lead to one on back-to-back scores by Youngblood and Selton Miguel. But Sean Bairstow and Lawal knocked down four free throws and VCU’s defense forced a contested three by Youngblood with five seconds left, as the Rams held on.

Defensively, USF held VCU’s leading scorer, Max Shulga, to just five points which is well below his season average of 14.5 points a game. The Bulls were strong on the glass and outrebounded the Rams 38-33. The 15 offensive rebounds led to 15 second-chance points. South Florida produced more points in the paint than VCU by a 32-28 margin.

Zeb Jackson led VCU with 14 points. Bairstow chipped in with 13 points, six rebounds, four assists and a steal, while Lawal provided 10 points, five rebounds and a block. Christian Fermin supplied 10 points, four boards and a pair of blocks for the Black and Gold. The Rams, who just missed out on the NCAA Tournament with a loss to Duquesne in the Atlantic 10 tournament championship game, are in the NIT quarterfinals for the first time since 1988. It marks VCU’s 27th all-time postseason appearance, including its 18th since 2004.

“It’s a big disappointment when you don’t make the NCAA tournament,” VCU coach Ryan Odom said when asked how he’s motivated his team to play with desperation in a tournament widely viewed as a consolation bracket, one that some programs opt out of entirely. “Shame on us if we don’t come ready to play and really compete for this.”

VCU is holding opponents to an effective field goal percentage of .466, the 19th-best rate in the country. VCU opponents are shooting .312 from 3-point range, the 37th-best mark in the nation. VCU also ranks 32nd in the country in blocks rate (12.7).

The Rams have assisted on 57.2 percent of their field goals, which is VCU’s highest rate since the 2010-11 campaign, when the Rams assisted on 60.2 percent of buckets. VCU is also shooting .780 at this line this year, which ranks 14th nationally. VCU’s +2.5 rebounding margin is its largest since 2003-04, when the Rams were +4.5.

VCU has had its “big four” of senior guards Shulga, Bamisile and Jackson as well as graduate forward Bairstow available in just 21 games this season and the team is 15-6 in them.

Bet VCU to Win
NIT Betting Odds, Basketball USA

Why Bet on Utah Utes?

Utah beat UC Irvine 84-75 in Round 1 of the NIT and then eliminated Iowa 91-82 on Sunday – both games in Salt Lake City. The Hawkeyes fought back from down 14 points to bring the game within five with just under 13 minutes remaining. A 6-0 Utah run pushed their lead back to 11 points and they would go on to lead by at least nine points for the rest of the game. Iowa finished the game shooting 33-of-68 (48.5%) from the field and 7-of-21 (33.3%) from deep. The Hawkeyes shot 9-of-14 (64.3%) from the free throw line to fall to 11-9 all-time in the NIT. The 20-12 edge in points off turnovers was just the fourth time Utah has scored at least 20 points in that category this season.

With the win, Utah is now 21-14 overall on the season – which is the most wins in a season since the 2017-18 squad went 23-12. Utah was led by Gabe Madsen with a career-high 31 points on 9-of-19 shooting. Madsen shot 7-of-15 from beyond the arc. He became the second Runnin’ Ute this season to score 30-plus points in a game and the fifth instance this season – the other four belonging to Branden Carlson. Madsen and Carlson are the only Utah duo to record 30-plus points in a single-season dating back to 1996-97. The five games with a player scoring 30-plus points is the first time since Keith Van Horn did it himself during the 1996-97 season.

Deivon Smith‘s fourth triple-double of the year with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists made him the first Pac-12 player since Jason Kidd (Cal) had four during the 1993-94 season. His four triple-doubles also ties him with four other players throughout NCAA history for the third-highest total in a single-season. Through two games in the NIT, Smith has dished out a total of 20 assists with a double-double and a triple-double. He is just the fifth player since 1996-97 to record at least 20 assists through two games in the NIT.

With 4:54 on the clock in the first half, a dunk from Carlson saw him become the program’s fifth all-time leading scorer when he scored his 1,850th point to pass Mike Newlin (1,849; 1968-71). The South Jordan native finished the game with 12 points and pushed his career total to 1,858 points.

The Runnin’ Utes are 16-2 inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center – which is tied for the third-most wins at home in program history and the eighth time they have reached that win total in program history. The last time Utah won 16 games at home occurred back in 2014-16 when it went 16-1 back-to-back years at home.

Utah is now 6-2 (.750) all-time when playing in the NIT at home. It is 3-1 all-time when playing in the semifinals of the NIT with its three wins coming in 1947, 1974 and 2018. It’s the first-ever meeting in basketball between the Utes and Rams.

Utah head coach Craig Smith and VCU head coach Ryan Odom both held the same role at Utah State before moving onto their respective schools currently. Smith was at the helm in Logan from 2018-21 while Odom succeeded him from 2021-23 before taking over at VCU. Smith will also be facing a pair of familiar faces from VCU in Sean Bairstow and Max Shulga – who he coached during his time at Utah State.

Bet Utah to Win
NIT Betting Odds, Basketball USA

VCU vs Utah Expert Prediction

Utah 73, VCU 68

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