The Utah Utes and Oregon State Beavers will take the court on Thursday at Gill Coliseum. Tip-off from Corvallis, OR, is at 8:00 p.m. PT. The Utes are seven-point spread favorites and the game total is 130 points.
Utah, 14-7 SU and 12-9 ATS, beat Washington 86-61 on Saturday. The Utes are 2-3 in their past five and 7-3 in Pac-12 play this season. Oregon State, 8-12 SU and 10-9 ATS, defeated Cal 68-48 on Sunday. The Beavers are 1-4 in their past five and 2-7 in conference competition.
The Utes beat the Beavers 79-60 on Jan. 5 in Salt Lake City. Utah shot 47.4 percent from the field and 18-for-20 at the foul line. OSU trailed by eight at halftime and was held to 26 second-half points in the loss. The Utes are 18-16 all-time versus the Beavers.
The Utes picked up two key wins in consecutive matches against Washington State and Washington, snapping a three-game losing streak. It will need more victories to keep pace with first place UCLA, which has a 1.5-game advantage over Utah.
The Utes led the Huskies by 14 at the half and didn't relent, shooting over 51 percent from the field in the home win. Utah also outrebounded Washington by 18, collecting 19 offensive rebounds. It never trailed in the game.
Utah averages 71.9 points per game on 45.7 percent shooting with a 35.1 three-point field goal percentage. It converts 70.2 percent of its free throw attempts and averages 36.5 rebounds with a +5.8 rebounding margin. The Utes are 91st nationally in schedule-adjusted offensive efficiency, per KenPom.
#Pac12MBB Player of the Week, presented by @Nextiva: Branden Carlson ??
Full release ?? https://t.co/XKv5T6mGYd#GoUtes | @UtahMBB pic.twitter.com/QZYrMWmkjy
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) January 23, 2023
Senior center Branden Carlson paces Utah, averaging 17.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game. He has scored 20-plus points in three consecutive games and nine times overall this season. Other players to watch are junior guard Gabe Madsen (12.1 PPG), senior guard Marco Anthony (10.4 PPG and 6.9 RPG), and sophomore guard Lazar Stefanovic (9.7 PPG and 2.9 RPG).
The Utes give up 62.3 points on 37.4 percent shooting from the field, including 28.0 percent from three-point range. They're 24th in defensive efficiency and 67th in assist-per-turnover ratio (1.17).