It’s the championship game of the Beach Division of the Fort Myers Tip-Off on the hardwood down in the Sunshine State as the Pac-12 and the SEC do battle. The Utah Utes are the “road” team as they take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs Wednesday night. Utah advanced to the title game as they edged Georgia Tech 68-64 in their semifinal matchup Monday night. The Utes failed to cover the 4.5-point line in the contest. Mississippi State edged Marquette 58-55 in their semifinal matchup with the game coming up as a push as the Bulldogs were a three-point favorite in the contest. The Bulldogs won the only previous meeting, taking a 78-64 win in the second round of the West Region of the NCAA Tournament on March 19, 1995 at the Taco Bell Arena in Boise, Idaho.
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Utah bounced back from their loss to Sam Houston State as they started strong, wilted in the middle and made key plays down the stretch to down Georgia Tech in their semifinal matchup Monday night. The Utes improved to 4-1 on the season and try to make it two straight wins here. Against Georgia Tech, Utah opened the game by scoring the first 11 points and led 23-4 with 10:43 to play in the first half. The Utes saw their lead trimmed to eight at the half before seeing Georgia Tech continue their assault. Utah trailed 57-54 with 7:22 to play in regulation before regaining control with a 7-0 run that put them in front 61-57 with 4:29 to play. The Utes didn’t let Georgia Tech closer than two after that as they held on for the win. Utah shot 46.2% from the field, including five of 16 from three-point range, and overcame turning the ball over 19 times to earn the victory. Gabe Madsen led the Utes with 16 points, five rebounds and four assi sts in the win.
The Utes are 233rd in the nation in scoring offense as they pile up 70.8 points per game this season. Utah grabs 42.4 rebounds per contest while they stand 153rd by handing out 13.2 assists per contest this season. The Utes are solid defensively, ranking 27th in scoring defense by allowing 55.8 points per game this season. Brandon Carlson leads the team offensively with 15.6 points plus 7.8 rebounds per game. Gabe Madsen is the lone other player averaging in double figures with 13.6 points and 4.4 rebounds a night. Rollie Worster, Marco Anthony, Mike Saunders Jr., Lazar Stefanovic, Wilguens Exacte Jr., Luka Tarlac, Ben Carlson and Jaxon Brenchley are solid secondary options for Craig Smith’s team. Utah is shooting 44.7% from the field this season. The Utes are knocking down 6.6 triples per contest this season while shooting 34.7% from the arc. Utah is struggling at the charity stripe as they cash in on 70.8% of their attempts this season.