The No. 7 Arizona Wildcats and No. 13 Utah Utes are sitting atop of everyone else in the Pac-12 conference and look to add a big win to their resumes with this game, which tips off at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN. Arizona is great, but terrible on the road. Utah is perfect at home this season. An upset in the making? Here’s what we think.
Why You Should Care
This game features the Arizona’s Top 30 offense and Top 15 defense. They have great teamwork and post eye popping numbers on both sides of the ball. All the while Utah is 16-0 at home and has the confidence to try and keep that streak alive. It has grit … and one of the better players in the nation in Delon Wright. With Arizona struggling on the road, especially against ranked teams, this one could get interesting. Remember, they played earlier in January with Arizona coming away with the win 69-51 but this time should be way different. Honestly, this is just a big game with two great top 25 teams battling it out. Who wouldn’t care about that?
Match-up to Watch
It’s a battle of the guards vs. the forwards in this one. Utah’s top two players are guards Wright and Brandon Taylor who combine for 24.7 ppg, 7.2 rpg, and 8.9 apg. They will face off against Arizona’s forwards Stanley Johnson and Brandon Ashley who total for 25.5 ppg, 11.9 rpg, and 2.5 apg. Keep an eye on the mismatches of these players and their counterparts because it could be a very high scoring game or a very low ball defensive display.
X-factor
There is no one player I can point out here because both teams post similar numbers from their players. What I think is going to be the factor in this game is defense. Who can stop the other team from posting huge numbers? This is going to be a shootout and should be one of the more exciting games to watch.
Prediction
I pride myself on making predictions daily. I love to just come up with stuff and see if it comes true and, although I do have the power of Brostradamus when looking into my crystal ball, it’s a bit muddy. All things considered I think I have to give this game over to the conference upset. Utah plays so well and is so comfortable at home while Arizona struggles mightily on the road. I’m calling Utah in a low scoring, defensive game, 66-61.
Dorm Room Hoops 