Tag: Utah Utes

Pac-12 men’s basketball report: Arizona beats Utah in wild triple-OT drama

A lot happened in the Pac-12 on Thursday, with Arizona and Washington State scoring big wins. We have details.

The Arizona Wildcats led the Utah Utes 41-25 at halftime of Thursday night’s game in Salt Lake City. It seemed that the night would be short and the drama would be nonexistent. How wrong those assumptions turned out to be in the world of Pac-12 basketball.

Arizona stumbled through an ugly second half, Utah made a big surge, and a late 3-pointer by Gabe Madsen enabled the homestanding Utes to tie the score at 76, sending the crowd into a frenzy and the game into overtime. It would take three overtime periods for Arizona to finally put away Utah. Arizona led for most of the second overtime and dominated the third overtime period to finally put the game away, 105-99. Utah, though, had a good chance to win late in the first overtime, leading 82-80 with 42 seconds left and having a free throw for a chance to push its lead to three. However, Utah missed the foul shot. Arizona’s Caleb Love tied the game at 82. Then Utah had a chance to win in the final seconds of the first OT period, but the Utes turned the ball over. The two teams scored nine points each in the second overtime sequence. Arizona then scored 14 points in the third overtime to pull away.

We have some notes on the Pac-12 bubble and the NCAA Tournament forecast for the league, plus other scores and takeaways from Thursday night in the conference:

CU Buffs drop key Pac-12 road game at Utah

Once again, the Buffs didn’t get enough outside of KJ Simpson and J’Vonne Hadley

Outside of KJ Simpson and J’Vonne Hadley, not enough Buffs stepped up when needed on Saturday in a key Pac-12 road game at Utah.

With Luke O’Brien, Cody Williams and Bangot Dak all sidelined due to injury, Simpson and Hadley combined for 40 points, but the beaten-up Colorado men’s basketball team didn’t receive enough from others, ultimately falling 73-68.

Tristan da Silva suffered his worst shooting performance of the season (3-for-15 from the field) and Eddie Lampkin Jr. committed eight turnovers — three more than his previous season-high. Colorado’s bench, which was limited to Javon Ruffin and Assane Diop, also went scoreless.

Colorado made things interesting late, cutting Utah’s lead to three with under 30 seconds remaining, but couldn’t close the deal.

Heach coach Tad Boyle’s CU team is now 15-7 overall, 6-5 in the Pac-12 and 1-6 in true road games. With No. 34 Utah only three spots behind No. 31 Colorado in the NET Rankings, the Buffaloes could’ve used this win to boost their increasingly shaky NCAA Tournament resume.

Check out some of the best pictures from Colorado’s trip to the Jon M. Huntsman Center:

Five keys to Colorado securing a huge road win over Utah

Colorado needs to have a sense of urgency tomorrow at Utah

With a matchup against the Utah Utes (14-7, 5-5 Pac-12) on Saturday in Salt Lake City, the Colorado men’s basketball team (15-6, 6-4) has another chance to stir up its season’s destiny.

The two teams’ first meeting of the season comes with great importance as they both currently sit on the brink of March Madness with similar overall, home and away records. Both Utah and Colorado are coming off trips to the Pac-12’s Washington schools. The Utes were swept while the Buffs split with a win over Washington.

While both teams sit around the same place situationally, their recent performances have differed. Colorado has won four of its last five games while the Utes have lost two straight and three of their last five.

Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. MT on the Pac-12 Network.

Here are five keys to the Buffs getting the best of the Utes on Saturday afternoon:

9 takeaways from National team Senior Bowl practice day 3

Nine takeaways from Vikings Wire’s Tyler Forness on the National Team’s third and final practice at the 2024 Reese’s Senior Bowl

Day three of the 2024 Reese’s Senior Bowl is here, signifying the final practice before the two teams face off on Saturday.

Senior Bowl week is one of the first premier stops on the road to the NFL draft, and this year’s version has not disappointed. We have seen everything from the usual suspects securing their spots in round one to the virtually unknown prospects becoming household names.

Tyler Forness, Managing Editor for Vikings Wire, has had his finger on the pulse in Mobile from the first snaps of practice. He gives us his nine takeaways from the National team’s final chance to compete before the game and what it could mean for the prospects as their pre-draft process begins.

WBB Recap: Ducks let an upset over Utah slip through their fingers

Oregon saw its eight-point halftime lead evaporate and No. 16 Utah avoided an upset in Eugene 58-48.

Utah came into tonight’s game against Oregon averaging 86 points a game and it’s a big reason why the Utes are No. 16 in the nation.

When it was halftime, Utah had 21 and the Ducks had a huge upset within their grasp.

But by the time the third quarter ended, Oregon’s 29-21 halftime lead was completely erased as the Utes outscored the Ducks 22-7 and held a 43-36 lead.

Oregon pulled to within three in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t get over the hump and Utah escaped with a 58-48 win.

This was a victory not only did this Duck team need, but the program as a whole and unfortunately they couldn’t muster enough offense. Oregon is now 11-10 overall and 2-6 in conference play with No. 3 Colorado next.

The loss wasted a great game from Phillipina Kyei who led all scorers with 19 points and 16 rebounds. Chance Gray added 18 points, but no other Duck could approach double figures.

In the second half, the Utes broke down the Ducks 2-3 zone and found open 12-foot jumpers, mostly from Alissa Pili. She scored all 16 of her points after halftime as the Ducks never adjusted to her becoming hot from the field.

The Utes were just 4-of-20 from three-point land in the first half, but in the second half, the Utes were 4-of-10, including three straight which brought them back in the game during that big third quarter.

Oregon doesn’t have much time to get over the defeat as No. 3 Colorado looms on Sunday. The Buffaloes won’t come into Matthew Knight Arena happy campers as they are coming off an upset loss to the Beavers in Corvallis.

Pac-12 men’s basketball report: Washington State scores big win over Utah

Pac-12 bubble teams improved their situations on Wednesday night.

The Pac-12 bubble situation is very uncertain right now. A number of teams will need to get hot and stay hot in order to make the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The fact that the Pac-12 has only one NCAA Tournament lock — Arizona — means that bubble teams can’t afford too many losses over the next several weeks. Wins over UCLA and USC figured to be high-value wins before the season began. Right now, those wins don’t mean a whole lot since the season has become a complete disaster for the Bruins and Trojans. With this in mind, bubble teams such as Washington State have very little margin for error.

Wednesday night, the Cougars made no mistakes. They drubbed Utah, 79-57, to improve their bubble position. Washington State lost to Utah by 22 points in Salt Lake City, so the Cougars managed to dish out a 22-point smackdown to the Utes in Pullman as payback. The win will compensate for Wazzu’s brutal loss to California this past Saturday. The Cougars, if the season ended today, would not be in the NCAA Tournament. They still have work to do. However, this win keeps them in the bubble conversation and givs them a chance to play their way into the NCAA Tournament in February and early March.

Utah is probably still in good shape for the NCAA Tournament, but the Utes will need to win a few road games in the conference to be safe.

Elsewhere in the Pac-12 on Wednesday, Colorado went to Seattle and scored a crucial road win over the Washington Huskies to improve their bubble position. The Buffaloes are very much on the bubble but moved the needle in the right direction. Washington head coach Mike Hopkins looks like a man who will be fired in a few months.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire.

Pac-12 women’s basketball report: Utah beats UCLA in OT, shakes up conference race

Utah trailed UCLA with five seconds left but rallied to force OT and then dominate the extra period.

The Pac-12 Conference has seen a ton of basketball success on the women’s side this season. On Monday night, a team which had absorbed some tough defeats punched back and scored a huge win.

Utah, playing without some key players due to injury, lost three games early in the Pac-12 season. The Utes still have a lot of talent, however, and on their home floor in Salt Lake City, they’re very tough to beat. They completed a sweep of the Los Angeles schools Monday night by beating No. 2 UCLA in overtime, 94-81.

Utah led by nine entering the fourth quarter but then scored only nine points in the final frame, committing numerous turnovers and failing to move the ball the way they did in the first three quarters. Utah scored three points in six minutes, allowing UCLA to get a 71-70 lead in the final 30 seconds. The Bruins had two free throws with under five seconds left, but missed one of the two attempts to make the score 72-70 and enable the Utes to tie with a 2-point shot, not a three. That was crucial on the final play of regulation. UCLA was overplaying the 3-point line and allowed a drive by Utah guard Ines Vieira, who raced to the hoop for an uncontested game-tying layup. The game went to overtime, and Utah completely dominated, outscoring the Bruins 22-9. The result leaves Stanford and Colorado atop the Pac-12 at 6-1, with UCLA third at 4-2.

Sunday was another full slate with three ranked teams facing off.

Stanford got the win over Oregon State at home, which was expected. The Colorado Buffaloes were able to contain USC just enough in a 63-59 victory in Boulder.

The biggest takeaway for USC was JuJu Watkins fouling out and the Trojans not being able to adjust without their star. Watkins finished with 20 boards and four steals. Quay Miller and Jaylyn Sherrod combined for 36 points and Miller added 12 rebounds as Colorado got the win.

In other results from Sunday, Cal defeated Oregon, 66-57, in Berkeley. Arizona State was able to get a road win over Washington, 73-65, in the biggest upset of the day for the Pac-12.

The final game was a rout. Washington State beat Arizona easily, 78-57.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire.

Penn State lands in Joel Klatt’s way-too-early top 10 for 2024

Joel Klatt thinks Penn State will be a really talented team in 2024. Where are they in his way-too-early top 10 for 2024?

The end of the college football season was only a couple of weeks ago, although we are already getting closer and closer to the opening of spring football practices around the country, and the hype for a game-shifting 2024 season in college football is already building. Fox analyst Joel Klatt is among the many ready to look forward to next season and he has given his first take at his top 10 teams in 2024. Klatt shared his way-too-early top 10 list recently on The Joel Klatt Show on YouTube.

Of course, these rankings and opinions are subject to change over the course of the offseason, and we will be sure to see how Klatt adjusts his thoughts, if necessary, leading up to the start of the 2024 season. But it should not be too surprising some of the teams Klatt has among his top 10 teams in college football for 2024 this far out from the start of the new season.

Here is a look at Klatt’s way-too-early top 10 for the 2024 season, starting with his no. 10 team, the Penn State Nittany Lions. Klatt said this was his second version of his top-10 list, but that nobody will ever see his first edition created shortly after the end of the 2023 season.

JuJu Watkins gets little help in USC women’s basketball loss at Utah

USC’s Rayah Marshall played only 16 minutes against Utah. The Trojans need her at full strength.

The USC Trojans women’s basketball team lost on the road against Utah, 78-58, on Friday night. After defeating UCLA and moving up the rankings, the Trojans took a step back in Salt Lake City.

Alissa Pili was a force to reckon with for Utah. She had 37 points and was as good as she has ever been as a college basketball star. Pili scored 37 against South Carolina earlier this season. Against the Trojans, she matched that total. She was on fire, making 13 of 16 shots and 5 of 6 3-pointers in a brilliant display. She was the best player on the court.

USC’s JuJu Watkins was the second-best player on the floor in this game. She continued to put up strong numbers. She led USC again, this time scoring 26 points on 11-22 shooting with five rebounds and three steals.

The only other USC player in double figures was McKenzie Forbes, who scored 11 points but was just 3 of 13 from the field.

As has been the case for the majority of the season, it was the JuJu Watkins show on the USC side of things. She was the star against UCLA, scoring 32 points with 10 rebounds, and had cramps by the end of it all. She needed more help in this game.

She didn’t get it. One limitation for USC was that Rayah Marshall — who was ill against UCLA and did not play this past Sunday — played only 16 minutes. USC needs a full-strength Marshall to compete against the elite teams in a loaded Pac-12.

Despite the loss to Utah on Friday, Watkins was the engine that kept this USC train moving. The Trojans will need another huge game from JuJu against No. 3 Colorado on Sunday afternoon in Boulder.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire.

USC prepares for big test against Utah and former Trojan Alissa Pili

Alissa Pili versus the Trojans is a big-time showdown.

The USC Trojans are embarking on a huge Mountain road trip this weekend. They face Colorado on Sunday, but first comes a trip to Salt Lake City to face the Utah Utes on Friday night. USC is No. 4 in the USA TODAY Sports Women’s College Basketball Poll. The Women of Troy are 13-1 on the season and are one of three teams (Stanford and UCLA are the others) with one loss in the Pac-12, a game behind unbeaten Colorado in the loss column.

USC is currently a projected No. 2 seed for the 2024 Women’s NCAA Tournament. USC is one of four Pac-12 teams (Colorado, UCLA, Stanford) projected to be a top-two seed in March Madness.

This game against Utah on Friday stands out for one obvious reason: Former Trojan Alissa Pili gets another shot at USC. Pili has become an elite women’s college basketball player. She scored a whopping 37 points earlier this season against No. 1 and unbeaten South Carolina. If that doesn’t tell you how great Pili is, nothing ever will. USC has to contain Pili yet not give up too many good looks to Utah’s other role players. It’s a stiff challenge for the Trojans and their defense on the road.

Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire.