The fourth-seeded Utah Utes will battle with the fifth-seeded Georgetown Hoyas tonight in NCAA Tournament action. The game is scheduled for a 7:45 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on CBS. Currently the NCAA Tournament Betting Odds for the game have the Utes favored to pick up a close victory int his one.
Utah and Georgetown will be a nice matchup to deterring a Sweet 16 team. Both the Utes and Hoyas are balanced teams, having similar numbers in both offensive and defensive efficiencies. Utah rank
Utah ranks 24th in offensive efficiency and seventh on defense. That’s a pretty good spread for a team that plays in a conference like the Pac 12 where defense is rarely something that is played on a nightly basis.
Georgetown, on the other hand, ranks 24th in defensive efficiency and 37th offensively. Teams that have major differences in the numbers can be good, like Iowa State, but they’re very unbalanced on both ends of the floor and it cost the Cyclones a chance to make a nice run in the tournament.
In today’s matchup Delon Wright of Utah will get to guard on the ball against Georgetown’s D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera, one of the better guards in the country. This should be a solid matchup in what has the potential to be a great game. Both of these schools were picked as teams to potentially fall in their opening round matchup against double digit seeds, but both looked solid and got to this point in the tournament.
Smith-Rivera poured in 25 points in the team’s win over Eastern Washington while Jabril Trawick, Mikael Hopkins and Paul White all had 10 points. The Hoyas got balanced scoring and they’re going to need that today against a defensive team like Utah.
The Utes were led by Jakob Poeltl and his 18 points, Jordan Loveridge added 12. Wright finished with 11 points while Brandon Taylor, a double digit scorer on average, had just two points.
Josh Smith for Georgetown will need to clog up the paint for the Hoyas. Georgetown cannot let Utah beat them on the glass and get second-chance opportunities.
This should be a solid game between a pair of teams looking to make the Sweet 16. Georgetown has all the history and a great team, but will the Hoyas be able to play well down the stretch?
Free Pick: Georgetown 70, Utah 67
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