BYU vs Arizona State Pick & Prediction

The Vegas Showdown is a four-team event starting on Thanksgiving Day featuring the BYU Cougars and the Arizona State Sun Devils.

To this point, both programs are trending in opposite directions. Arizona State posted an uneven start to the year, while BYU looks highly underrated in the early going.

Here's our BYU vs. Arizona Statepick and prediction for Thursday, Nov. 23.

Starting with the Cougars from Provo, BYU’s best team in the Mark Pope era didn’t get to appear in the NCAA tournament due to COVID.

The one aspect the 2019-20 team excelled at was shooting the ball from the perimeter, which the 2023-24 also does incredibly well.

The Cougars attempt perimeter jumpers on nearly 50% of their shots. Spencer Johnson, Trevin Knell and rising sophomore Dallin Hall have contributed majorly to BYU’s torrid shooting start.

The biggest offensive riser is Jaxson Robinson, the team's leading scorer at 15.3 points per game. At 6-foot-7, Robinson’s length on the wing makes up for BYU’s lack of frontcourt size. That’s one of the reason why BYU isn’t completely overmatched against bigger teams.

My biggest concern about BYU was its lack of size and strength against more physically-imposing teams. My concerns were alleviated rather quickly, though, when it defeated the reigning national runner-up — San Diego State — by double figures.

I mean, nobody is more physical than Jaedon LeDee, and BYU managed to hold down the Aztecs enough.

Additionally, BYU scored 100+ points in two of its four games, so it's looking like BYU is a force to be reckoned with on offense.

While BYU knows how it wants to score, Arizona State is in the complete opposite boat. The Sun Devils looked uninterested in their opening-night loss to Mississippi State and haven’t scored more than 71 points in three games.

Arizona State's roster is a complete random pairing of pieces that don't make a ton of sense — and it shows.

Kamari Lands currently leads the team in scoring with 11 points per game, while Frankie Collins and Jose Perez follow closely with double-digit points.

But the main issue that’s held Arizona State back in Bobby Hurley’s tenure is the “hero-ball” mentality. He’s known for allowing his teams to play with freedom and take difficult shots, but that’s an issue when the talent isn’t strong enough to actually make those difficult shots.

Plus, Shawn Phillips Jr. is out for the foreseeable future with an injury, so Tulsa transfer Bryant Selebangue will earn the lion's share of minutes at the five. That’s slightly problematic against the thickly-built Fousseyni Traore from BYU.

When Arizona State made the NCAA tournament last year, it did so based on defensive intensity headed by a trio that departed from the program.

With them gone, the defense looks just okay, and the offense is highly mediocre.

I don’t see a single redeeming aspect of the Sun Devils' roster right now.

I’m completely fading Arizona State until I see a reason not to. That reason has yet to happen, so I’ll continue fading the Sun Devils until further notice.

A miracle double-digit comeback in the final 1:50 against UMass Lowell kept them from falling to 1-2.

Sure, 8.5 points presents a fairly lofty challenge for BYU, but I trust its shooting advantage in this particular matchup.

Pick: BYU -8.5

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