#7 Arizona vs. #13 Utah
Sat, Feb 28 2015, 07:00 PM MST
Jon M. Huntsman Center - Salt Lake City, UT
TV: ESPN
Radio: ESPN 700
Line: Utah -1.5
The big game is finally here and those poor souls camping outside the JMHC will no longer freeze in their anticipation. The Utes finally play host to the conference darlings and actually have a shot of winning against the lone team in the PAC 12 they have yet to beat since joining the conference. Arizona has won five straight games since dropping a road contest against rival Arizona State on February 7th. They, like Utah, have shown weaknesses on the road while dominating foes in their own arenas.
The Wildcat's are on the second of their two game road swing through the mountain region. The road swing was setting up to be a one of those most daunting in the conference in the beginning of the season. However the Buffaloes have struggled to live up to their end of the bargain. Arizona beat the Buffaloes 82-54 last Thursday and had 4 of 5 starters in double figures scoring. Stanley Johnson led the Wildcats with 15 but Gabe York went 4-5 from three to finish with 14 points in 23 minutes off the bench.
Utah is coming off a 83-41 thumping against ASU (the last team to beat the Wildcats) in which they put on a virtual basketball clinic. Holding the Sun Devils to 9 first half points as they cruised to one of the most lopsided wins of the entire season. Delon Wright would only have play 21 minutes and Isaiah Wright made the most of his opportunity. Finishing with 5 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds, the freshmen showed a good command of Utah's offense. The Utes came out during warmups with laser focus, and I knew it was going to be a long night for anyone who stepped into that arena that night. The Utes look to be playing their most focused basketball of the entire season heading into tonight's matchup.
There is no sugar coating it, this is the biggest conference game in Ute history. I can think of a few matches going back to the WAC days against New Mexico and such but nothing else can compare to this game tonight. This is a big hurdle for the Utah basketball program and a win will propel them into tournament where perhaps they can do some real damage. The line of -1.5 for Utah means that even Vegas thinks this game will be close but they too are favoring the home team. Utah is 5-4 away from home while Arizona is 6-3 on the road. It's going to be a battle but the Huntsman center will be packed and I expect that to be the difference. I expect the Utes will win in a close, tough game 71-69.
Let's get this party started folks, big game tonight! Post your thoughts, opinions and comments here and I'll try and address most of them while also keeping those who cant watch updated on the game action.
Sat, Feb 28 2015, 07:00 PM MST
Jon M. Huntsman Center - Salt Lake City, UT
TV: ESPN
Radio: ESPN 700
Line: Utah -1.5
The big game is finally here and those poor souls camping outside the JMHC will no longer freeze in their anticipation. The Utes finally play host to the conference darlings and actually have a shot of winning against the lone team in the PAC 12 they have yet to beat since joining the conference. Arizona has won five straight games since dropping a road contest against rival Arizona State on February 7th. They, like Utah, have shown weaknesses on the road while dominating foes in their own arenas.
The Wildcat's are on the second of their two game road swing through the mountain region. The road swing was setting up to be a one of those most daunting in the conference in the beginning of the season. However the Buffaloes have struggled to live up to their end of the bargain. Arizona beat the Buffaloes 82-54 last Thursday and had 4 of 5 starters in double figures scoring. Stanley Johnson led the Wildcats with 15 but Gabe York went 4-5 from three to finish with 14 points in 23 minutes off the bench.
Utah is coming off a 83-41 thumping against ASU (the last team to beat the Wildcats) in which they put on a virtual basketball clinic. Holding the Sun Devils to 9 first half points as they cruised to one of the most lopsided wins of the entire season. Delon Wright would only have play 21 minutes and Isaiah Wright made the most of his opportunity. Finishing with 5 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds, the freshmen showed a good command of Utah's offense. The Utes came out during warmups with laser focus, and I knew it was going to be a long night for anyone who stepped into that arena that night. The Utes look to be playing their most focused basketball of the entire season heading into tonight's matchup.
There is no sugar coating it, this is the biggest conference game in Ute history. I can think of a few matches going back to the WAC days against New Mexico and such but nothing else can compare to this game tonight. This is a big hurdle for the Utah basketball program and a win will propel them into tournament where perhaps they can do some real damage. The line of -1.5 for Utah means that even Vegas thinks this game will be close but they too are favoring the home team. Utah is 5-4 away from home while Arizona is 6-3 on the road. It's going to be a battle but the Huntsman center will be packed and I expect that to be the difference. I expect the Utes will win in a close, tough game 71-69.
Let's get this party started folks, big game tonight! Post your thoughts, opinions and comments here and I'll try and address most of them while also keeping those who cant watch updated on the game action.
