Utah’s strong start to the season continued on Tuesday night as they strolled to their third consecutive victory with an emphatic 36-point win over Carroll College. Making it four wins in a row won’t be that easy, though, as standing in their way this coming Friday are the USC Trojans whose playing some excellent basketball lately as well, having won six of their last seven games.
Read on below for a preview of this much-anticipated Pac-12 showdown. If you’re looking for other sports action, though, you can check out our complete NFL Wild Card round picks and predictions here as the start of the NFL playoffs draws ever closer.
USC’s size proved to be the difference Tuesday night as they outmuscled Vermont to a 64-56 win Tuesday night. Strahinja Gavrilovic and Nikola Jovanovic used their size advantage to the hilt as they combined for 27 points to lead the Trojans to their second straight victory.
[sc:NCAAB240banner ]The two giants helped the Trojans dominate the paint as they outscored the Catamounts 42-26 inside the shaded area. A worrying concern, however, for the Trojans is that even with their edge in height, they only outrebounded Vermont in this game by just two boards (42-40).
Gavrilovic and Jovanovic will need to do a much better job of controlling the glass against the Utes who are 73rd in the nation in rebounding, averaging 37.9 boards per game this season. They will need to pay particular attention to freshman phenom Jakob Poeltl who’s averaging 8.4 rebounds per game for the Utes this campaign.
Still, the Trojans will not be daunted by this fact as they are 46th in the entire nation in rebounding, averaging 39.3 boards per game. Gavrilovic, Jovanovic and Darion Clark have been the stalwarts for the Trojans in this department, combining for an average of 19.8 boards per game.
One problem area for the Trojans so far this season is their misfiring offense. They are averaging just 68.2 points per game this season which is good for only 177th in the entire country. It won’t get any easier for them this coming Friday as they will face a Utah defense that is one of the best in the nation today. The Utes are 18th in scoring defense this campaign, allowing just 56.9 points per game.
With that being said, the Trojans will have to rely on Jordan McLaughlin to set the tone for their struggling offense. The freshman has been sensational in his first year with the Trojans, averaging a team-best 13.3 points and 5.2 assists per game for USC this season.
Jordan Loveridge made the most of his return to the Utah lineup as he led the Utes to a convincing 85-49 rout of Carroll College Tuesday night. Playing for the first time since November 26, Loveridge paced the Utes with 14 points as Utah finished its non-conference play with a Pac-12 best 10-2 record.
Loveridge showed no signs of his knee problems that sidelined him for more than a month as he knocked down five of his six field goal attempts including three from beyond the arc. His return to form was not lost on head coach Larry Krystkowiak who said, “I think his legs stronger than maybe it’s been in a long time, so it might be refreshing for him. I see him getting up and down the floor. He’s a guy, I think at this point in the season that’s probably going to be our freshest, in terms of legs.”
That will serve the Utes in good stead when they host the USC Trojans this coming Friday at the start of their Pac-12 league play. If they are to sustain their impressive form, they will need to replicate their superb offensive performance against Carroll.
The Utes as a whole were impressive from the field as they connected on 65 percent of their shots. They were also lights out from the perimeter, burying eight of their 16 attempts from the three-point area for an excellent 50 percent shooting clip.
In fact, the Utes have been superb on the offensive end all season long as they are averaging 76.1 points per game this campaign, 39th in the entire nation. Their high field goal shooting clip against Carroll was no fluke as well as they are nailing 50.9 percent of their attempts so far this season which is the ninth-best mark in the entire nation.
With that being said, they will be licking their chops at the prospect of facing a USC defense that is 181st in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 66.1 points per game this season.
