Missouri @ Utah preview
Jon M. Huntsman Center
Missouri and Utah have been on cruise control so far as each has opened the season with a pair of double-digit home victories. The tasks grow much tougher, though, Thursday night as the Tigers and Utes clash in an intriguing early-season nonconference barometer game in Salt Lake City.
Utah will be playing its third straight home contest after dispatching Southwestern Athletic Conference foes Prairie View A&M (83-62) and Mississippi Valley State (91-51), but now comes a visit from a vastly improved Missouri team which has garnered votes in the early national polls. “They (the Tigers) have got tremendous length,” Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak told the Salt Lake Tribune earlier this week. “… When they walk through the airport, they’re going to get some people’s attention. They’d be probably mistaken for an NBA team. They’ve got enough length to look the part.” Missouri, though, will likely be missing a key piece in freshman forward Michael Porter Jr., a consensus top-three recruit and projected NBA Draft lottery pick, who reportedly aggravated an unspecified hip/leg injury less than two minutes into the Tigers’ 74-59 season-opening win over Iowa State last week and then wasn’t seen in the arena during a 99-55 rout of Wagner on Monday night. First-year Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin said after the contest that Porter remains under evaluation from the team’s medical staff and didn’t know if he would make the trip to Salt Lake.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network
ABOUT MISSOURI (2-0): In Porter’s absence, fellow newcomers Kassius Robertson, a senior transfer from Canisius, and freshmen forwards Jeremiah Tilmon and Jontay Porter, Michael’s brother, have settled in quite nicely. Robertson scored a game-high 23 points against Wagner and is pacing the team with 17 per game while Tilmon is averaging 10.5 points and 4.5 rebounds and Jontay Porter is contributing 8.0 points and a team-most 3.5 assists and 6.0 rebounds. Returning upperclassmen Kevin Puryear (14.5 points) and Jordan Barnett (14.0) are the others averaging in double figures for Missouri, which shot a collective 60.2 percent from the field in the two wins.
ABOUT UTAH (2-0): Senior swingman Gabe Bealer, who is coming back from a broken foot suffered this summer, scored a career-high 20 points, including six 3-pointers, and grabbed seven rebounds against Mississippi Valley State and is one of four Utes averaging double figures. Guard Sedrick Barefield scored a team-high 22 points and had four assists in last week’s opener, but then missed Monday’s game with a bout of stomach flu, according to Krystkowiak. Big men Tyler Rawson and David Collette are averaging a combined 25.5 points and 15.5 rebounds for the Utes, who have nonetheless struggled with 35 turnovers so far.
TIP-INS
1. The teams will be meeting for only the second time since 1950 with the only other contest being an 86-79 Utah first round win in the 1978 NCAA Tournament.
2. Despite its 2-0 start, Missouri also has had issues taking care of the ball with 33 total turnovers.
3. Utah 7-footer Jayce Johnson, expected to be a key contributor off the bench, has not played so far due to an ankle injury.
PREDICTION: Utah 74, Missouri 70