Utah @ Oregon St. preview

Utah at Oregon St.

Last Meeting ( Feb 19, 2017 ) Utah 67, Oregon St. 68

Utah and Oregon State used heavy doses of defense to win their Friday Pac-12 openers. Now they’ll meet Sunday in Corvallis, Ore., with a 2-0 conference start on the line.

The Runnin’ Utes, didn’t get going until the second half Friday at Oregon, flipping a 31-23 halftime deficit into a 66-56 road win over defending Pac-12 co-champion Oregon. Utah held the Ducks to 25 second-half points and 56 overall – which was nearly 34 points below their average in nine previous home contests this season – to snap Oregon’s 25-game home win streak in Pac-12 play. “Our defense has carried us to eight nonconference wins,” Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said in his post-game news conference. “We keep (telling our players) that the rim is going to open up, but defense has to be a staple of our program and it was a nice game plan. Our guys are locked in.” Oregon State, meanwhile, limited visiting Colorado to 34.5-percent shooting and a season-low 57 points – thanks largely to nine steals and 18 forced turnovers – en route to its eighth win in nine home games this season.

TV: 6 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network

ABOUT UTAH (9-3, 1-0 Pac-12): The Utes’ win Friday was their first in a road conference opener since joining the Pac-12 in 2011. Guard Justin Bibbins continued his hot streak, scoring 16 of his game-high 19 points in second half and now has 44 points over his last two outings to up his season average to 12.7. Forward David Collette still leads the way with 13.3 points and is joined in double figures by Tyler Rawson (11.5), Sedrick Barefield (10.7) and Donnie Tillman (10.7).

ABOUT OREGON STATE (9-4, 1-0): Forward Tres Tinkle and guard Stephen Thompson Jr. combined for 47 points, seven rebounds and nine assists against Colorado and are pacing the Beavers with 18.5 and 16.8 points, respectively, on the season. Forward Drew Eubanks had seven points and a team-high nine rebounds and six blocked shots Friday and is now averaging 14.0 points, 6.8 boards and a team-leading 1.9 blocks. Overall, Oregon State has won six straight in Gill Coliseum, winning by an average of 11.8 points.

TIP-INS

1. Utah leads the series 17-12, but Oregon State has won 11 of the 13 meetings in Corvallis.

2. The Utes (66.9 points allowed) and Beavers (69.5) rank 1-2 in Pac-12 scoring defense as the only conference teams surrendering fewer than 70 points per outing.

3. Both teams rank in the Pac-12’s bottom half in rebound margin with Oregon State seventh at a plus-3.6 and Utah 10th at a plus-2.6.

PREDICTION: Utah 72, Oregon State 70