It's Raining Cats, Dogs, and Hopefully 3s, Utes head to Washington

[DrumNFeather]

I was going to play off the "pack" idea, but it turns out Cougars don't hunt in packs, they are a very solitary animal. Who knew?

It goes without saying that this trip is (Think Trump) Huge for the Utes as they try to get above .500 in league play heading near the midway point of the league schedule.

Given our road struggles, it's hard to feel good about either game, but I do like that we get Wazzu first (and more importantly, Washington gets the Buffs - wear 'em out Josh!).

The Cougars are 1-4 in league play, and have dropped two games at home (Wash, USC), but boast the league's top rebounder Josh Hawkinson. Why should this scare us? Well, because we haven't shown a lot of toughness inside, particularly from our potential lottery pick.

WSU also boasts the worst RPI in the league by a mile, and as such, a loss here would really be devastating. It's probably going to be ugly, but the Utes need to find a way to win this one and build some momentum heading to Seattle.

The Huskies meanwhile are 4-1 in league play with two road wins (WSU, ASU) and a home sweep of the LA schools. Romar seems to have this team playing well, and they will most certainly be a tough out for the Utes, especially if we get off to one of those starts where we score 2 points in the first 6 minutes. Andrew Andrews leads them in scoring at 21 PPG, so we'll have to work to lock him down.

Hopefully the Oregon St. win woke this team up a little bit, and hopefully we can get Jakob to play like the lottery pick he is supposed to be.

[1Colonial]

Working in Eastern Wa this week, just bought my ticket for Thurs. Gotta love Pullman in Jan. Hope the Utes enjoy it...

[NorthwestUteFan]

Working in Eastern Wa this week, just bought my ticket for Thurs. Gotta love Pullman in Jan. Hope the Utes enjoy it...

Looks like a high of 45, low of 40, slight chance of rain. Not too bad. Go to the creamery and get a few cans of Cougar Gold cheese. It is a fantastic, award-winning cheddar. Far better than expected.

This is a gotta-win game. Josh Hawkinson reminds me of Josh Grant in many ways. He is all over the place, gets rebounds like crazy, seems to find good shots, and hits them from all over the court.

I only saw UW get dismantled by Gonzaga, so I don't know much about those malemutes.

[1Colonial]

Thx for the advice. A utes win is all I need but that coug gold cheddar sounds delicious...

[DrumNFeather]

The Huskies looked pretty good against Colorado...gonna take a small miracle for us to get that one. Let's hope we can get Wazzu tonight.

[NorthwestUteFan]

The Malemutes look very tough. And Andrew Andrews looks stellar in his 18th season at UW.

[SoCalPat]

Sharps are huge on Utah. Line tonight opened at Utah -.5, it's now up to Utah -5.5.

Total is 145.5, which means Vegas is forecasting a 76-70 game. It's also the highest total set for Utah in league play this year, and the under is 5-0 for Utah in those games. The closest Utah has gotten to the over was the Stanford game (missed by the hook) and that game went OT. The other 4 games saw the under win by an average of 18.5 points per game.

Conversely, this is WSU's lowest total line in league games, and they're 5-0 with the over.

[Dwight Schr-Ute]

I almost forgot what it felt like to play the first five minutes with a lead. (But Utah hasn't actually scored since I've started to watch...)


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[Dwight Schr-Ute]

Sloppy. But Cougs even sloppier.


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[Applejack]

Ugly game so far

[Jarid in Cedar]

Hmm...27 points, 57.1% shooting and only 2 turnovers.

I will take that kind of ugly any day

[Mormon Red Death]

Reyes made a layup!

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[chrisrenrut]

We seem to be less timid and more free flowing on offense. I'm not saavy enough to know how much of that should be attributed to the quality of the opponent.


I have been wondering what was holding this team back. No one seemed confident shooting or driving against this team the Oregon teams, and Jakob seemed to hesitate on every inside move instead of taking it up quick like he used to. Again, may have something to to with the quality of opponents. But I hope this offensive game gives us some confidence going forward.

[LA Ute]

Reyes has made two lay ups, by my count, and a couple of free throws as well. The time-space continuum is tearing.


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[chrisrenrut]

Ok, let's save some of this for Sunday.

[SoCalPat]

Ugly game so far

This game was never ugly for Utah backers. Not for one moment.

[Utebiquitous]

I'm one of the first to criticize Jordan so I better be one of the first to compliment. Really terrific game (and effort) from Jordan tonight. Terrific to see senior leadership come through in performances by he and Taylor. I loved Bonham's aggressive offensive play as well. Regardless of the opponent, this team needed to come out and go after someone. Good win.

[concerned]

This game was never ugly for Utah backers. Not for one moment.

Unless you had the under.

[justaute]

Didn't see the game, but great reading about the win and how Jlove/Taylor played.

btw...was WSU's key inside player out? Was it similar situation to that of the Duke game? Basically, the opponent didn't have an inside presence?

[chrisrenrut]

Didn't see the game, but great reading about the win and how Jlove/Taylor played.

btw...was WSU's key inside player out? Was it similar situation to that of the Duke game? Basically, the opponent didn't have an inside presence?

Hawkinson only missed one shot all night, and had 16 points. We just did a good job defensively on him to limit his shots.

[SheeeeeUTE]

I'm still stuck on that earlier post about the cheese. Did you really say award winning cheese in a can?


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[justaute]

Cool. I had just read that Izundu (sp?), their shot-blocker, didn't play.

It's more of a case of wsu just not being very good. It wasn't hard to find open shots like it is against better teams.

[SoCalPat]

Unless you had the under.

You know where to stick that needle you're jabbing me with.

[SoCalPat]

Worried about UW. We played out of our minds against Wazzu. Part of it was the competition, part of it was we were due for a huge offensive game. But again, in spite of forcing Wazzu to go deep into the clock on many possessions, they still shot an outstanding percentage -- basically matching Utah across the board.

Turnovers were especially brutal for Wazzu. That's really the biggest outlier from a team perspective. We crushed Wazzu on the boards, but Wazzu is the worst team in the league in rebounding margin. Individually, one game ain't gonna make me believe Jordan Loveridge can do this game in and game out on the road.

Maybe the light has gone on in our heads, and a win Sunday will strengthen that belief. It will give us our 3rd road win in league play and all but put us tied for first with UW, since we host them at the JHC. I'm not worried about a regular season title -- whomever gets it will probably share it anyway -- but I desperately want a top 4 seed in Vegas. Winning Sunday will be a significant rung climbed toward reaching that goal.

[NorthwestUteFan]

I'm still stuck on that earlier post about the cheese. Did you really say award winning cheese in a can?


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It happens to be packaged in a can. It is exceptionally good Cheddar. Much better than the Tillamook 2-yr White Cheddar, which is decent in its own right.

Back in the 30 s/40 s sometime WSU researchers were trying to find a way to make cheese store indefinitely in a can. They discovered a unique blend of cultures necessary to survive the canning process. The result is a wheel of firm, crumbly cheddar cheese that is intensely sharp, full of crumbly amino acid chunks, but with a milky sweetness and smooth aftertaste.

As silly as canned cheese sounds, it is really freaking good. Easily one of the very best American-made cheddars. Top 5 at worst.

And if you really want to put hair on your chest they sell a version made with ghost peppers (around 850,000 to 1,000,000 Scoville Units)

[SeattleUte]

Worried about UW. We played out of our minds against Wazzu. Part of it was the competition, part of it was we were due for a huge offensive game. But again, in spite of forcing Wazzu to go deep into the clock on many possessions, they still shot an outstanding percentage -- basically matching Utah across the board.

Turnovers were especially brutal for Wazzu. That's really the biggest outlier from a team perspective. We crushed Wazzu on the boards, but Wazzu is the worst team in the league in rebounding margin. Individually, one game ain't gonna make me believe Jordan Loveridge can do this game in and game out on the road.

Maybe the light has gone on in our heads, and a win Sunday will strengthen that belief. It will give us our 3rd road win in league play and all but put us tied for first with UW, since we host them at the JHC. I'm not worried about a regular season title -- whomever gets it will probably share it anyway -- but I desperately want a top 4 seed in Vegas. Winning Sunday will be a significant rung climbed toward reaching that goal.

This is an intriguing series to me, and not just because I live in Seattle. I've watched all of the last three games in Seattle. Three years ago, the Utes were totally overmatched physically, huge underdogs, and played their best game of the season and won a big upset. It was a breakthrough game for Taylor--as a freshman he scored in the 20s and hit several threes. The next year the teams were probably evenly matched physically and the Utes were in the game throughout and lost a close one, by 2 as Loveridge just missed a trey at the end that would have won the game. I recall that Andrew Andrews got a very hot hand at the end. Last season the tables were turned from two years before, the HUSKIES were grossly overmatched physically, and the Utes were big favorites. The Utes gave up an early lead, and were upset in what may have been their worst game of the season. Andrew Andrews seems to always play well against us. I think we can win this one and alter the complexion of the Pac 12 race. I'll be there.

[SeattleUte]

As you're probably all aware, this Washington team bears little resemblance to last season's. Romar had a spectacular recruiting haul, which is something he tends to do every third or fourth year (for reasons I don't fully understand). So it's young and super talented. Also, Andrew Andrews has supposedly improved. But the Huskies are quite capable of laying an egg against the Utes as they've done a few times already this season.

[Solon]

As you're probably all aware, this Washington team bears little resemblance to last season's. Romar had a spectacular recruiting haul, which is something he tends to do every third or fourth year (for reasons I don't fully understand). So it's young and super talented. Also, Andrew Andrews has supposedly improved. But the Huskies are quite capable of laying an egg against the Utes as they've done a few times already this season.

For the third (or whatever) year in a row, I can't decide if "Andrew Andrews" is an awesome name or an abomination. Which way should I go on that?
Also, every time I hear "Que Johnson" for WSU, I think "Hugh Johnson" and I laugh a little bit.

Finally, Poeltl played well vs. the Cougars but, unless he has a monster February-March, I wonder if he'll be back for another year to polish his game.

[concerned]

He's gone. Enjoy these last two months with him.

Yep. No way he improves his draft stock by returning. The opposite would be more likely

[DrumNFeather]

Yep. No way he improves his draft stock by returning. The opposite would be more likely

Solidly in the second round!

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