Preview: Stanford vs Utah for Pac 12 Tournament Championship 3:00 Sunday
Utah unexpectedly knocked off Oregon for the right to face us in the championship. Their three point shooting was 9/31, not the precision that they are famous for, but it was good enough. The real margin was that Utah was 23/28 on free throws, Oregon 11/16, spotting Utah 12 points. Utah is the best free throw shooting team in the league.
Utah was without their star forward Peyton McFarland--I did not hear if it was a season-ending injury or not--and they also received some dings in the Oregon game--whether this knocks out another player or not I don't know. But they are bruised and at less than full strength. None of that stopped them from beating Oregon.
We have played Utah twice before. Last time we beat them handily:
https://thecardboard.org/board/showthrea...light=Utah
The first time in Utah they led us for much of the game:
https://thecardboard.org/board/showthrea...hlight=wbb
Utah's offense is a penetrate-and-dish offense. They drive on the basket and then frequently pass it back out to an open three point shooter. The majority of their points do not actually come from three point shots, but they get a lot of fouls while driving and they get a sprinkling of layups too. This has led to the highest-scoring offense in the league.
Utah has 8 players hitting more than 30% from three, but Kennedy McQueen at 43%, Brynna Maxwell at 39%, and freshman sensation Gianna Kneepkins at 38% have each shot them in volume--each making more than 50. By comparison, only Hannah Jump on our team has more than 50, although Lexie is getting close.
With the loss of McFarland, Utah may be more vulnerable in the paint. When we played them at home we had 6 players score in double digits with 52 points in the paint. I imagine that they will try some entirely different defense to avoid being outscored 91-64 again. Notice that even though we won that game comfortably, they still scored 64, so there is a limit to how much they can be contained.
The first time we played Utah we had only 28 points in the paint. Brink and Lexie had great games in the 20s, but Utah led with 6:25 in the game before Wilson, Jones, and Brink heated up.
This game reminds me of the Washington game. Utah has nothing to lose and everything to gain, plus a certain degree of confidence. We ought to win, but that does not mean we necessarily will.
Utah unexpectedly knocked off Oregon for the right to face us in the championship. Their three point shooting was 9/31, not the precision that they are famous for, but it was good enough. The real margin was that Utah was 23/28 on free throws, Oregon 11/16, spotting Utah 12 points. Utah is the best free throw shooting team in the league.
Utah was without their star forward Peyton McFarland--I did not hear if it was a season-ending injury or not--and they also received some dings in the Oregon game--whether this knocks out another player or not I don't know. But they are bruised and at less than full strength. None of that stopped them from beating Oregon.
We have played Utah twice before. Last time we beat them handily:
https://thecardboard.org/board/showthrea...light=Utah
The first time in Utah they led us for much of the game:
https://thecardboard.org/board/showthrea...hlight=wbb
Utah's offense is a penetrate-and-dish offense. They drive on the basket and then frequently pass it back out to an open three point shooter. The majority of their points do not actually come from three point shots, but they get a lot of fouls while driving and they get a sprinkling of layups too. This has led to the highest-scoring offense in the league.
Utah has 8 players hitting more than 30% from three, but Kennedy McQueen at 43%, Brynna Maxwell at 39%, and freshman sensation Gianna Kneepkins at 38% have each shot them in volume--each making more than 50. By comparison, only Hannah Jump on our team has more than 50, although Lexie is getting close.
With the loss of McFarland, Utah may be more vulnerable in the paint. When we played them at home we had 6 players score in double digits with 52 points in the paint. I imagine that they will try some entirely different defense to avoid being outscored 91-64 again. Notice that even though we won that game comfortably, they still scored 64, so there is a limit to how much they can be contained.
The first time we played Utah we had only 28 points in the paint. Brink and Lexie had great games in the 20s, but Utah led with 6:25 in the game before Wilson, Jones, and Brink heated up.
This game reminds me of the Washington game. Utah has nothing to lose and everything to gain, plus a certain degree of confidence. We ought to win, but that does not mean we necessarily will.