Stanford vs. (13) Utah
07:00 PM MST
Jon M. Huntsman Center - Salt Lake City, UT
TV: Pac-12 Network Radio: ESPN 700
Line: Utah -9.5
The Stanford Cardinal pay a visit to the JMHC tonight when they face the Utes at 7 pm. Stanford is 16-7 and a road win against a highly ranked Utah team is just what they would need to get over the hump and back into the tourney. Unfortunately, I don't see it happening. Stanford is a unique team in College Basketball (Meaning they have seniors) and they are pretty solidified as the PAC 12's 3rd or 4th best team in a down year. They are coached by the great Johnny Dawkins who is in his 7th year at the helm of the Cardinal bball program and he is coming off his first tourney appearance last season. Some might remember last March when the Cardinal came into SLC and escaped with a 61-60 victory stomping the Utes Tourney hopes in the process.
Stanford has lost three of its last six games to fall to 7-4 in Pac-12 play. The Cardinal had lost back-to-back games before beating USC this past Saturday. They are led by the talented senior who we all know by now, Chason Randal. Randal averages 20 points a game in just over 36 minutes of playing time. He has help in the backcourt with talented senior, Anthony Brown so Taylor and Wright will have their hands full on defense tonight. Those two combine for nearly 50% of the Cardinal offense. Stanford also has a pretty nice front court with Stefan Nastic (13 points 7 boards a game) but they only go about 7 deep on the bench. Brandon Taylor has been playing lights out for the Utes. With the exception of the USC game, He has been in double figure points since the start of January. Of course having the opposing defense keying in our your back court mate always helps, but Taylor has stepped up to become just as important to this Utes team than Delon Wright has been this season. He's a leader on the floor for the Utes and his three point shooting has bailed them out of a lot of bad spot this season. Can't say enough positive things about him AND his game.
This will be a fun game full of nice one on one match-ups. But this is a Stanford team who's marquee win came against a fading Texas team and they have losses against BYU and Wazzu. They have played some good competition this year with match-ups against UNLV (they won 89-60) Duke and Depaul and they're RPI is sitting around the 48 mark. This won't be a cake walk but I expect the Utes to cover the 9.5 point spread. Post your thoughts/ questions and concerns here and we will keep this party rolling into the wee hours of the [school] night.
This post was edited on 2/12 4:01 PM by ChanseF
07:00 PM MST
Jon M. Huntsman Center - Salt Lake City, UT
TV: Pac-12 Network Radio: ESPN 700
Line: Utah -9.5
The Stanford Cardinal pay a visit to the JMHC tonight when they face the Utes at 7 pm. Stanford is 16-7 and a road win against a highly ranked Utah team is just what they would need to get over the hump and back into the tourney. Unfortunately, I don't see it happening. Stanford is a unique team in College Basketball (Meaning they have seniors) and they are pretty solidified as the PAC 12's 3rd or 4th best team in a down year. They are coached by the great Johnny Dawkins who is in his 7th year at the helm of the Cardinal bball program and he is coming off his first tourney appearance last season. Some might remember last March when the Cardinal came into SLC and escaped with a 61-60 victory stomping the Utes Tourney hopes in the process.
Stanford has lost three of its last six games to fall to 7-4 in Pac-12 play. The Cardinal had lost back-to-back games before beating USC this past Saturday. They are led by the talented senior who we all know by now, Chason Randal. Randal averages 20 points a game in just over 36 minutes of playing time. He has help in the backcourt with talented senior, Anthony Brown so Taylor and Wright will have their hands full on defense tonight. Those two combine for nearly 50% of the Cardinal offense. Stanford also has a pretty nice front court with Stefan Nastic (13 points 7 boards a game) but they only go about 7 deep on the bench. Brandon Taylor has been playing lights out for the Utes. With the exception of the USC game, He has been in double figure points since the start of January. Of course having the opposing defense keying in our your back court mate always helps, but Taylor has stepped up to become just as important to this Utes team than Delon Wright has been this season. He's a leader on the floor for the Utes and his three point shooting has bailed them out of a lot of bad spot this season. Can't say enough positive things about him AND his game.
This will be a fun game full of nice one on one match-ups. But this is a Stanford team who's marquee win came against a fading Texas team and they have losses against BYU and Wazzu. They have played some good competition this year with match-ups against UNLV (they won 89-60) Duke and Depaul and they're RPI is sitting around the 48 mark. This won't be a cake walk but I expect the Utes to cover the 9.5 point spread. Post your thoughts/ questions and concerns here and we will keep this party rolling into the wee hours of the [school] night.
This post was edited on 2/12 4:01 PM by ChanseF
