Utah vs Washington Odds
| Utah Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-1.5 -105 | 158.5 -110o / -110u | -115 |
| Washington Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+1.5 -115 | 158.5 -110o / -110u | -105 |
The Utah Utes face the Washington Huskies in Seattle, hoping to get on the winning track following a double-digit loss against Washington State on Wednesday.
The loss hurt in more ways than one: The Utes lost another key cog, who's questionable for Saturday's game.
Utah Utes
Utah is the epitome of a bubble team right now. The Utes have a few decent wins — over BYU and Wake Forest — mixed with some strange losses against Arizona State and Stanford.
Road play hasn't treated the Utes kindly, as they've lost all four conference away games. Utah trending in the right direction on the road is key to its NCAA tournament hopes, especially in this game against Washington, which looks entirely disengaged and disinterested in playing team basketball.
Utah could have the deck stacked against it, though. Rollie Worster (missed the last three games) and Deivon Smith (missed the second half against Wazzu) both enter Saturday as question marks.
Worster's status has been in flux for a week, but Smith suffered a fairly serious looking lower leg injury against Washington State.
Once Smith left, Utah lost all of its mojo. The Utes' guard situation is messy if both remain out — it'll slide Gabe Madsen or Hunter Erickson to the point guard spot. That hurts for multiple reasons: Madsen's best skill is shooting and Erickson isn't a good point guard.
Moreover, you can toss everything you know about the Utes' sharp offense without Smith or Worster. Getting either of the two back is huge for the offensive structure.
Either way, the Utes best player — Branden Carlson — will play. Carlson is, without a doubt, one of the best players in the Pac-12. The dynamic forward is averaging 17.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game while shooting 47% from the field.
Teams have trouble stopping Carlson due to his shooting and driving ability. He's a true mismatch for most opposing fours.
Carlson is the fulcrum of a top-30 offensive player in America on an efficiency basis. He's an awesome player who should dominate in a favorable matchup.
Washington Huskies
The Mike Hopkins era is trending towards a bumpy finish, as the Huskies will likely pivot in another direction, barring an unforeseen finish to the year.
Washington is 11-9 entering the Utah game and allowed 90+ points in back-to-back losses against Colorado and Stanford. Things seemed in decent shape when Washington beat then-top-10 ranked Gonzaga, but the Zags have turned into a borderline tournament team since then.
I think UW is approaching the "players quitting" type of mentality. The defensive effort is non-existent, the offense is taking a ton of one-on-one shots and most concerning, the team looks disengaged.
Meanwhile, Keion Brooks Jr. is still posting impressive numbers — 20.3 points and 7.2 rebounds a night on 49% shooting. For all of Washington's struggles, none of them are Brooks' fault.
He's an absolute baller and the only Huskies player scoring consistently. He's taking a ton of shots, and making a ton of them to his credit. I don't trust anyone else on the roster to score consistently.
One of the major struggles for Washington is perimeter shooting — its connecting on fewer than 33% of its 3s in the past two losses. The Sahvir Wheeler/Paul Mulcahy lineup isn't conducive to shooting the 3, and Washington is rolling out those two regularly.
The big man rotation has remained inconsistent for Hopkins. It feels as if Wilhelm Breidenbach is his preferred option, but his defense is inconsistent against strong bigs.
That should favor Keba Keita getting Breidenbach in foul trouble early, which means Braxton Meah should see sizable minutes. That's a huge improvement for Washington's rim protection, as Meah offers shot-blocking chops that Breidenbach lacks.
It's always cloudy in Seattle. And things seem dark and cloudy for the Huskies.
Utah vs. Washington
Betting Pick & Prediction
I'm worried about taking Utah without knowing if the guards play, but I couldn't be more out on Washington.
While the Utes look poor on the road, I think the better coached team wins in this spot.
Utah boasts a terrific offense and is willing to attack UW's atrocious defense.
I'm rolling with the Utes up to -3.
