Queens University Royals vs BYU Cougars Prediction, Odds, Best Bets - Week 2

BYU has scored 101.0 points a game behind 27.0 a game from Robert Wright III, and Queens has allowed 103.7 a game, so the total of 181.5 is earned. The Royals score plenty themselves, though: 89.0 a game, with two wins already and shootouts in every game they have played.

The Matchup

Queens University visits BYU on Tuesday night at the Marriott Center in Provo, on ESPN+, with BYU a 28.5-point favorite, a total of 181.5, and the Cougars priced at -10,000 on the moneyline against the Royals at +3,000. BYU is ranked 23rd in the AP Top 25, and the total tells you what kind of night everyone expects.

BYU is 2-0, with wins over Ohio State (94-83) and Omaha (108-67). The Cougars have scored 101.0 points a game and allowed 75.0. Robert Wright III has been the headline, at 27.0 points a game, with Brooks Bahr at 3.5 assists a game and Jaxon Kohler at 7.0 rebounds a game. Last season, in the Big 12, BYU scored 83.5 and allowed 75.4 across 35 games, so the scoring is in this program's nature; this season's start has simply turned the volume up.

Queens is 2-1, and every game has been a shootout. The Royals beat Winthrop 103-98 and Loyola Marymount 96-95, and lost 118-68 at Oklahoma State. They have scored 89.0 points a game and allowed 103.7. Nasir Mann leads them at 19.3 points a game, Jordan Watford leads them at 5.0 assists a game, and Isaiah Henry leads them at 5.7 rebounds a game.

Last season, in the Atlantic Sun, Queens scored 84.5 and allowed 83.5 across 35 games. No player on either side carries an injury designation in the ESPN report for this game.

Key Factors

Queens' defense is the obvious worry, and it deserves naming first: 103.7 points allowed a game, including 118 at Oklahoma State. Against Wright, who is scoring 27.0 a game for a team putting up 101.0 a night, a defense that leaky can lose a spread in one nine-minute burst. BYU does not need to defend brilliantly to win big here; it needs only to keep scoring at its normal rate while Queens' shots stop falling for one stretch.

What Queens does well is score and share. Mann at 19.3 a game, Watford at 5.0 assists a game, and a team total of 89.0 a game mean the Royals generate points from several places, and in a game priced with a total of 181.5, possessions pile up fast. A high-possession game gives a big underdog more chances to trade baskets, and trading baskets is all a team getting this many points has to do for long stretches.

The honest counterpoint is that BYU has the athletes to turn a shootout into a rout, and the Marriott Center is one of the loudest buildings in the Big 12. Queens needed 103 to beat Winthrop by 5 and 96 to beat Loyola Marymount by 1; against a ranked team on the road, the same defensive effort likely produces the Oklahoma State result instead. If Wright gets downhill early and the crowd gets involved, this can reach the thirties.

Every pick is published with its line before the game. Odds via consensus sportsbooks at time of writing and move constantly. Must be 21+. If gambling is a problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.