Utes Look To Leap Past Golden Bears Before Oregon Road Trip
Feb 7, 2020, 8:31 PM
Utah Utes center Branden Carlson (35) defends Stanford Cardinal guard Tyrell Terry (3) during a Pac-12 basketball game at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
(Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The University of Utah men’s basketball team hopes to leap past the California Golden Bears in the Pac-12 standings when the two teams clash on Saturday night at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
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Utah is 13-9 overall and 4-6 in Pac-12 play after a big overtime win over Stanford on Thursday night to snap a two-game losing streak. They are sitting in ninth place in the conference standings. After their game against Cal, Utah will hit the road to face Oregon and Oregon State next week.
California is 10-12 overall and 4-5 in conference play and have lost four of their last six games, including their last game to No. 24 Colorado by six points in Boulder. They are in eighth place in the Pac-12 standings.
The Golden Bears lead the all-time series against Utah with a 15-13 record. Since joining the Pac-12 in 2011, Utah is 8-7 against Cal, including a 6-2 record at home. The Utes have won the last two meetings and three of the last four.
Utes Need Consistent Offense
Utah is in need of a great offensive outing that lasts for the entire game. Against Stanford, the Utes didn’t score a single field goal in the final 10 minutes of the first half. They went on multiple scoring droughts throughout the game but still had control of the game through their defense.
The Utes could use the services of Both Gach, who has been out for the last three games with a knee injury.
Timmy Allen needs to get back to the way he was playing in non-conference play when he averaged over 20 points per game. In Pac-12 play, Allen is averaging 15 points per game. He is also struggling in shooting the basketball. On the season, he is making 43 percent of his field goals but in Pac-12 play his percentage dipped to 32 percent.
What Utah did receive was a big boost against Stanford from freshman big man Branden Carlson who had a career-high 15 points, 10 rebounds and 8 blocks.
#Utes are T3 in the @pac12 in Quad 1 wins. 👀#GoUtes🏀🔴 #Pac12Hoops pic.twitter.com/8v7HjQiUpd
— Utah Basketball🏀 (@UtahMBB) February 7, 2020
Cal Continues Rebuild
The Golden Bears are in the middle of a rebuild but have found their head coach that will lead them to the next level in Mark Fox. This season, Cal is last in the Pac-12 in points per game (63.5), 10th in field goal percentage at 43 percent, sixth in three-point percentage and fifth in free throw percentage.
Also, Cal is last in the Pac-12 with 32.5 rebounds per game and last in the conference with 9.4 assists per contest. They are also dead last in the conference in steals and blocks per game.
California has just one player who averages double figures in scoring with Matt Bradley recording 17.8 points per game. Guard Kareem South is averaging 9.5 points per game.
In their six-point loss to the Buffaloes on Thursday, three players scored in double figures led by Bradley with 17 points, Paris Austin added 15 points and Andre Kelly chipped in 12 points off the bench.
New office. Same goal. pic.twitter.com/nCHj8IUUbF
— Cal Basketball (@CalMBBall) February 8, 2020
Utah To Honor Former AD Chris Hill
At halftime of the game against Cal, the University of Utah will honor longtime Director of Athletics Dr. Chris Hill. The former Utah AD has been at the helm on the hill for 31 years. Utah will raise a banner inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center at halftime to honor Hill and the contributions that he made while serving as the Director of Athletics.
He was a big part of how the Utes left the Mountain West and joined the Pac-12 Conference in 2011.
Join us tomorrow, as we will honor & recognize former Utah Athletics Director Dr. Chris Hill with a Banner Retirement.
🎟 https://t.co/lQNOLA38YK #GoUtes🏀🔴 pic.twitter.com/FUA4HMX23E
— Utah Basketball🏀 (@UtahMBB) February 7, 2020
Utah’s NCAA Tournament Hopes
Part of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee process is the information compiled from five major metrics, the NET rankings, the three metrics from ESPN, including Strength of Record, BPI and RPI. The final two metrics that are used are the rankings from KenPom and Sagarin.
Utah is ranked No. 74 in the NET ranking after jumping up 13 spots after their win over Stanford. California is No. 147 in the NET rankings after their loss to Colorado. The Utes are the eighth highest ranked team in the Pac-12 according to the NET rankings, while Cal is last.
Here is where the other metrics have the Utes this week:
- RPI – 60
- SOR – 75
- BPI – 124
- KenPom – 112
- Sagarin – 97
For California, here is where the other metrics have them ranked:
- RPI – 95
- SOR – 139
- BPI – 190
- KenPom – 164
- Sagarin – 162
Also, the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee uses the Quadrant system where they put the opponent in a quadrant depending on their five ratings in their major metrics. Entering the game against California, Utah is 3-6 against Quadrant 1 opponents. Their six losses came against Oregon, San Diego State, Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and USC, while their three wins were against BYU, Kentucky in Las Vegas and Stanford.
The Utes are 3-1 against Quadrant 2 teams with wins over Nevada, Minnesota and Washington, with their only loss against UCLA. In Quadrant 3, Utah is 2-2 with both losses coming against Tulane and Coastal Carolina in the Myrtle Beach Invitational and their two wins coming against Oregon State and Washington State. The Utes are 5-0 in Quadrant 4 with wins over Ohio, UC Davis, Weber State, Central Arkansas and Mississippi Valley State.
California has a 1-5 record in Quadrant 1, beating Stanford but lost to Duke, Colorado, Stanford, Oregon and USC. They are 1-5 in Quadrant 2, beating Washington and falling to St. Mary’s, Texas, San Francisco, Santa Clara and UCLA. The Golden Bears have a 5-2 record in Quadrant 3 with their wins coming against Oregon State, Washington State, Pepperdine, UNLV and Fresno State. Their two losses were against Harvard and Boston College. The Golden Bears are 3-0 in Quadrant 4 with victories over California Baptist, Prairie View and UC Davis.
The Utes and Golden Bears will square off on Thursday evening at 6 p.m. The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
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