Utah
vs.
Arizona
NCAA Basketball
Pick
1/17/15
There are only two ranked teams in the Conference and this Game includes both of them. Arizona had a surprising loss last weekend, but the Wildcats are in a nice position with this Game to reaffirm their position at the top of the Pac-12. Utah sits in first place with three huge home wins in Conference play.
Not only does Utah have the better Conference record, the two losses suffered by the Utes are much more understandable than Arizona’s. They lost two close Games, one on the road at SDSU and the other a basic home Game for Kansas. Meanwhile, Arizona has lost two road Games against the underwhelming teams of UNLV and Oregon State. Just how good are the Wildcats?
Arizona dominated this matchup last year winning all three meetings. When they played in Utah, the Utes did put up a fight but ‘Zona eventually won in overtime. In the Conference Tournament Arizona won by 32 points.
Utah has only played three true road Games (SDSU, BYU, ASU) on the year and that could be a factor here. Also the fact that Arizona has dominated almost every opponent at home, outside of the OT win against Gonzaga. A lot of people still have their doubts about how good the Utes can be, but a win here would change matters.
The Utes are led by one of the most underrated players in the country in Delon Wright. He does everything for the team, leading them in points (14.9), assists (5.7), steals (2.4) and second in rebounds (4.7) and blocks (0.9). In addition, he’s shooting 57% from the field at the moment. But to win a Game like this, help will need to come from other places like Jordan Loveridge and Brandon Taylor, both of whom can shoot from deep.
Arizona’s defense is one of best around, so while the Utes shoot over 50% as a team, they’ll need a good Game from more than one player. Utah also has a solid defense, which could give the Wildcats some fits.
The Wildcats have the players on their squad, but haven’t really put it all together in their losses. T.J. McConnell has tried taking up a bigger role in the offense in recent Games, but when only one other guy reaches double digits, that’s not going to be enough on the road. That goes for leading scorer Stanley Johnson, who had a bad shooting day against UNLV and only seven points against Oregon State. Guys like Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Brandon Ashley need to be more consistent if this team wants to make a run in the Tournament.
These teams are very similar in the way they play and Arizona won’t be able to use size to their advantage like usual as Utah has some big guys of their own. The Wildcats are at home and the more skilled team, but can they put it together against a team on fire from Utah?
This prediction is being made on Thursday morning and BOTH teams still have a Game to play on Thursday night prior to their meeting on Saturday. The outcome of those Games will have an impact on Our final numbers on this Game. That being said, as of Thursday morning, Our numbers on this Game have Arizona on top by 8.
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