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The Utes are back home for their Pac-12 home opener against the Washington schools this week, starting with UW Thursday night at the Huntsman Center. The Utes are coming off of a good, almost great, trip to the Arizona schools, and are now hoping they can build upon some nice performances to get some conference wins. Sedrick Barefield, Donnie Tillman and Timmy Allen are all playing really good to great basketball, and if they can keep it up they will be tough to beat... as long as the team as a whole isn’t turning the ball over like crazy.
Washington is coming off of a win against Wazzu a week ago, and return many of the players they had a season ago, that Utah swept. For the Utes, can they shoot over and pass through the Syracuse zone that they play. UW is long and athletic, so Utah needs to be patient and take care of the ball. If they do just that, guys like Sed, PVD and Tillman will get some great looks.
Here’s how to check out the game and more game notes:
GAME 15: Utah (7-7, 1-1) vs. Washington (10-4, 1-0)
WHERE: Salt Lake City, Utah (Jon M. Huntsman Center)
WHEN: Thursday, Jan. 10, 2019
TIP-OFF: 8 p.m. MT
TELEVISION: FS1 / Fox Sports Go
RADIO: ESPN700
Info below courtesy of UtahUtes.com:
https://utahutes.com/news/2019/1/7/mens-basketball-runnin-utes-back-home-to-host-washington.aspx
SCOUTING WASHINGTON
The Huskies are 1-0 in Pac-12 play, coming off an 85-67 home-win over Washington State on Saturday. UW is 10-4 overall and has won three straight. The Huskies’ last loss was a 73-61 defeat to Virginia Tech back on Dec. 15, 2018.
The Huskies are 0-2 in true road games this season, but 2-4 overall in contests played away from Seattle. UW’s two road losses came to Auburn (88-66) and Gonzaga (81-79). Thursday’s contest will mark the first Pac-12 road game for the Huskies.
Jaylen Nowell leads UW in scoring, as he averages 17.3 points per game. Noah Dickerson, who ranks second on the team with 14.5 points per game, leads his squad with 6.6 rebounds per game and a .533 shooting percentage. Nowell is right behind him shooting .532 on the year. Matisse Thybulle has tallied a team-leading 41 steals and 30 blocked shots on the season.
The Huskies rank seventh in the league shooting .453 from the field, 12th in the Pac-12 with a .322 three-point shooting percentage, and eighth in the league with a .720 free throw shooting percentage.
UTAH VS. WASHINGTON SERIES HISTORY
Utah has swept the season-series from Washington the previous three seasons and brings in a six-game winning streak against the Huskies on Thursday. The Utes lead the all-time series 15-9, which includes a 9-3 mark since joining the Pac-12 Conference.
Utah’s last loss to UW was a 77-68 defeat to the Huskies back on March 7, 2015, in Seattle. The Utes, who are 8-2 when playing the Huskies at home, have won five straight inside the Huntsman Center, with the last loss coming back on Jan. 7, 2012.