Today is one of those reasons why the Arizona Wildcats spend most of the summer working out here, then go through nearly three months of preseason training behind closed doors.
Utah’s in town. A top 10 matchup. A full house at McKale Center.
“These are the types of games that make playing college basketball here at Arizona special," UA coach Sean Miller said, "playing in front of just an incredible crowd on a beautiful weekend here and in front of our great fans, against a high-quality opponent who’s also a conference opponent.
"A few years ago when Utah and Colorado both entered the Pac-12 everybody wondered how that would end up being and I know on the basketball side of things, if you look at what Colorado’s done and what Utah has become and the types of crowds both get, the homecourts and the coaches, it was a really great thing for our conference.”
Today's game figures to be different than the blowout UA had over the Utes in the Pac-12 Tournament last season.
Former UA recruiting target Jakob Poeltl is looking forward to returning to McKale Center.
The Salt Lake Tribune broke down the matchup.
No matter what Sean Miller says, Larry Krystkowiak says Arizona is still the "prime team" in the Pac-12.
Bettors agree with Larry K because the line has settled in with Arizona as a 5-5.5-point favorite.
That's more than a line that the Sagarin ratings would come up with. Utah has a 91.7 Sagarin rating and Arizona is at 89.1. Typically, four points are added to the home team, meaning UA would be a 1.5-2-point favorite under this formula.
ICYMI, our full main advance and scouting report is here on one page.
Here's the school-produced notes from Arizona and Utah.
Aaron Gordon will have to wait a little longer.
Colorado's Jaron Hopkins returns home against ASU.
The Buffs say they need a win if they are trying to move into the pack behind UA and Utah.
Bryce Alford is feeling better about his shot.
Ernie Kent's uptempo Cougs will be tested by Oregon State's more methodical methods.
Stanford will host a Connecticut team that has returned to Earth.
The schedule of other games around the Pac-12 today:
Colorado at ASU, 2:30 p.m., Pac-12 Networks
OSU at WSU, 6 p.m., Pac-12 Networks
Connecticut at Stanford, 7 p.m., ESPN2
