WSU versus Utah Predictions and Pregame Discussions

[Dave Stalwart]

I think you just put the ball in the hands of our guards to dictate the flow of the game. Our perimeter defense will be fine as well. We may not score well in the post tonight, but we have enough shooters that we may not need to. We will likely be at a disadvantage inside, but we also have a lot of fouls to give. Play physical against their bigs and get them out of the game. Our bigs will be sitting, too, but if it's a game to be decided by guard play, tempo and 3 point shooting, I like Wichita State a lot.

What will be scary is if we can't get the 7 foot shot blocker to the bench, we may have trouble with finishing when our guards penetrate. Well, I take comfort knowing we have guards who know how to either get assists or draw fouls.

[Slalomshocker]

WSU defense vs Utah offense..... or you could say Cotton vs Wright

Utah bigs will do well, but I don't see them scoring 30+ in the paint. Shocker guards will win the perimeter battle and Cotton will limit Wright. He may get his 18pts, but I bet it takes 18 shots to get there. As long as WSU stays out of heavy foul trouble I like WSU in a close one. Utah turns the ball over....that will not work out too well for them. The thing WSU has that Utah doesn't: FVV.

Shox 64
Utes 58

[The Mad Hatter]

Ute fan here. I watched the SDSU game in its entirety and what to clarify a couple of things. Utah led at halftime, 18-17 but fell behind by about 8 in the middle part of th 2nd half because they couldn't hit anything (including their FT's). Yes, Utah shot very poorly throughout the game except in the last two minutes when they made a run to pull it within two. Everyone needs to remember, this was a road game for Utah in a hostile arena which has become known as one of the toughest environments in college bball.

Both teams were stellar defensively in that game. Utah's freshman center, Poetl, had 12 rebounds and 7 blocks against them so SDSU is not superior to Utah defensively or athletically. What it really came do was SDSU hit their FT's down the stretch and Utah shot them poorly throughout the game. If that game had been played at Utah, I really think Utah wins.

If Utah struggles at the line against WSU like they did against SDSU (and a couple of other games this year), I am afraid the result will be similar. If Poetl and the team shoots 70-75% +, I like Utah's chances of getting the W. Should be a great game. Utah hoops has been down since Majerus left so we are enjoying the ride back up and games like tonight's are what coollege basketball is all about.

Clearly the home/road issue could make a big difference when comparing the SDSU game with tonight's game. It is worth noting, however, that shutting down SDSU's offense does not necessarily mean being able to stop WSU. SDSU ranks #68 in Kenpom's adjusted offense. That is the worst of any team in the top 30 of his rankings. As Utah saw, their strength is defense where they rank #5.

WSU is not quite as good as SDSU on defense, ranking #13, but also has the #10 ranked offense. Utah, on the other hand, has the #43 offense and #32 defense. At home, with better free throw shooting, Utah certainly should score more on us than they did on SDSU. However, our offense should score substantially more than SDSU, even on the road, because the SDSU offense just isn't very good and ours is top 10.

Summary: The gap between SDSU offense and WSU offense is huge, while the gap between SDSU defense and WSU defense is small, meaning that, under the same conditions, WSU would win bigger than SDSU did. However, since SDSU played at home and WSU will be on the road, there is a leveling factor at play.

[im4wsu]

The Huntsman Center is almost sold out. Just single tickets in the lower bowl, around 20-30 or so, and very very few pairs of tickets in the upper bowl.

Is this unusual? WSU takes sellouts for granted wherever the game is played.

[Shocker-maniac]

Is this unusual? WSU takes sellouts for granted wherever the game is played.

To be honest, I don't think that we take 15k sell outs for granted. Seems like we are pretty excited about potentially selling out IBA for the first time

[Anthroshock]

An entertaining read.

http://pachoops.com/2014/12/a-wichita-state-utah-qawith-me/

The payoff...


"PH – How does Utah beat Wichita State?

AtWF – Here let me just check the recent blueprint for how to beat a Wichita State team. It reads something like this:


BE THE MOST DELIRIOUSLY UNDER-ACHIEVING COLLECTION OF NBA TALENT TO EVER EARN AN 8-SEED

It’s really a pretty simple blueprint. Other than that I really ain’t got nothin’ for ya. At least not for the last 607 days."

[im4wsu]

To be honest, I don't think that we take 15k sell outs for granted. Seems like we are pretty excited about potentially selling out IBA for the first time

Pretty much everywhere we play is a sellout (Sprint Center, Atlanta, Salt Lake, Madison Square Garden, St. Louis, Omaha), except the IBA for the first three years. And the IBA thing would not have been a problem except for some stubborn season ticket holders who don't get preferred parking.

[Shocker-maniac]

I see your point that we are used to frequently seeing sold out arenas when traveling, and the Chuck, of course.

[ShockerFever]

I'm shocked. I don't remember the last time we played in front of an unusually large and rowdy sold out crowd.

Hardly ever. They're gonna be shell-shocked.

[utahman]

Is this unusual? WSU takes sellouts for granted wherever the game is played.

For Utah it's a big deal. We only sold out Arizona last year. We've only averaged about 9k fans per game this year

[utahman]

Wichita state hasn't played an away game at a stadium with 15,000 or more fans since 2013 at Creighton.

[_kai_]

Wichita state hasn't played an away game at a stadium with 15,000 or more fans since 2013 at Creighton.

Well there were like 80,000 for the Final Four...

[Dan]

An entertaining read.

http://pachoops.com/2014/12/a-wichita-state-utah-qawith-me/

The payoff...


"PH – How does Utah beat Wichita State?

AtWF – Here let me just check the recent blueprint for how to beat a Wichita State team. It reads something like this:


BE THE MOST DELIRIOUSLY UNDER-ACHIEVING COLLECTION OF NBA TALENT TO EVER EARN AN 8-SEED

It’s really a pretty simple blueprint. Other than that I really ain’t got nothin’ for ya. At least not for the last 607 days."

Hilarious. On what makes Ron Baker so good:
Mop. That mop atop his head that won’t let you figure if he’s about to hang ten or mill wheat but whatever the case he’s about to blow by you or drill a three while you’re still deciding whether or not to take him seriously.

[jdshock]

An entertaining read.

http://pachoops.com/2014/12/a-wichita-state-utah-qawith-me/

The payoff...

"PH – How does Utah beat Wichita State?

AtWF – Here let me just check the recent blueprint for how to beat a Wichita State team. It reads something like this:


BE THE MOST DELIRIOUSLY UNDER-ACHIEVING COLLECTION OF NBA TALENT TO EVER EARN AN 8-SEED

It’s really a pretty simple blueprint. Other than that I really ain’t got nothin’ for ya. At least not for the last 607 days."

I'd read a blog from Adam the Wichita Fan. He writes a bit like Drew Magary from Deadspin. I think it's a funny style.

[utahman]

Well there were like 80,000 for the Final Four...

True, but it was a neutral site.