Hawaii @ Utah preview

Hawaii at Utah

Last Meeting ( Dec 23, 2016 ) Utah 66, Hawaii 52

With the calendar flipping to December, Utah only has two nonconference games remaining on its home schedule. The first of those will be played Saturday night when the Utes host former Western Athletic Conference rival Hawaii.

Utah has won nine straight regular-season home games, including a 4-0 mark so far this season, and will play three of its final non-league contests outside of Salt Lake City before Pac-12 play tips off Dec. 29. The Utes’ only other home nonconference game remaining after Saturday is a Dec. 20 date against Northwestern State. The Rainbow Warriors, meanwhile, will be venturing to the mainland for the first time this season after a 4-1 start at home. Fortuitously, the date in Salt Lake will serve as the only nonconference road game of the season for Hawaii, which won’t return to the continental United States until its Jan. 4 Big West Conference opener at Long Beach State.

ABOUT HAWAII (4-1): The Rainbow Warriors bounced back from their lone loss – a 67-54 defeat versus undefeated Nevada on Nov. 24 – with an 87-77 win over Division II Adams State on Wednesday. Senior forward Gibson Johnson matched his career high with 19 points in the game to up his season average to 12.8, and he joins forward Mike Thomas (13.2 points) and guard Leland Green (10.6) in double digits. Jack Purchase, a 6-foot-9 forward, is averaging a team-best 6.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists while contributing 7.0 points per outing.

ABOUT UTAH (5-1): Like Hawaii, the Utes also suffered their lone loss during Thanksgiving Week to a hot-starting, Nevada-based Mountain West Conference squad, falling to UNLV 85-58 in the Nov. 22 championship game of the MGM Main Event in Las Vegas. Utah bounced back two nights later with an 85-69 home win over Eastern Washington as forward David Collette scored a career-high 24 points. Collette leads five players in double figures with a 14.7-point average, while forwards Tyler Rawson (10.8 points, 6.5 rebounds) and reserve Donnie Tillman (10.0 points, team-best 6.7 boards), a 6-foot-7 freshman, are the Utes’ leaders on the glass.

TIP-INS

1. Utah holds a commanding 48-10 lead in the series, including 14 straight wins and a 23-1 overall mark in Salt Lake City.

2. Utah leads the Pac-12 in scoring defense (66.7 points) and 3-point shooting defense (24.1 percent).

3. Hawaii is shooting 45.5 percent from the field but is only hitting 26.7 percent from 3-point range and 63.6 percent from the free throw line.

PREDICTION: Utah 81, Hawaii 66