Utah tops Bradley, hosts Pepperdine Tuesday

The Utah Runnin' Utes (5-2) won their first road game of the season on Saturday night, beating Bradley (4-4) by a score of 68-60 in Peoria, Illinois. I'm frustrated with bradleybraves.com which said it would have all games it streamed live available on demand as well. This game was scheduled to be streamed live and yet it is curiously unavailable on demand. I was counting on the on demand feature as I was unable to watch live and the website has let me down. In fact, it seems that the only games available on demand are the games that Bradley has won this season.

Anyway, Josh Watkins scored 23 points for the Runnin' Utes and Will Clyburn had 19 as the Utes led throughout. One concerning facet of the game was that Utah went 24-44 from the free throw line. That has to change and I'm pretty confident it will as the Utes normally seem to me to be a pretty good free throw shooting team. I don't have the stats on that on me, but it seems to be the case.

Bradley is one of those teams you should beat, even in their building, so I'm pleased that Utah was able to take care of business. It's the fourth year in a row Utah has played a team from the competitive Missouri Valley Conference and the Utes have compiled a 3-1 record in that span. The Valley always seems to be a fun league, but I don't think Bradley is the class of it this year.

Utah returns home to face Pepperdine (3-6) Tuesday night at the Huntsman Center. Pepperdine is another one of those teams you should beat, but I would have said that last year when the Utes went to Malibu, California and lost to the Waves. Hopefully Utah won't overlook them and will be able to put them away rather early on. I feel confident in predicting a rather comfortable win for the Runnin' Utes. The game won't be televised but will have live audio available on kall700sports.com and on AM 700 here in the Salt Lake City area. As usual, I will be at the game and will be tweeting as well. You can follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/dpaysports.

Utah's 5-2 record looks nice, but it hasn't come against the greatest of schedules. The toughest game of the year to date was definitely at Utah State (5-2), a loss. I don't consider that a bad loss, it being a road game against a good team. USU's 5-2 record looks better than Utah's as its only two losses were to ranked opponents (although the Aggies don't have any of what I would consider big wins to this point either). What is a bad loss for the Utes, though, is losing at home to Oral Roberts (4-4). I wouldn't necessarily consider Oral Roberts a bad team, but I think they are probably a mediocre team at best and definitely not someone you should lose to at home. However, it looks like the Utes may have put that behind them with wins against Fresno State and the aforementioned Bradley. If they keep up the winning the bad loss may end up looking like a mere blip on the radar. We should know a little more after Friday's game at Michigan (6-2).

Runnin' Utes back in action tonight

After a disappointing home loss to Oral Roberts (2-3), the Utah basketball team (3-2) gets back in action tonight at 7 p.m. MT against Fresno State (1-3). Fresno State is another team the Runnin' Utes should beat, but I said the same thing about Oral Roberts. I think the Utes will take out their frustrations on them and win by at least ten. The game is not on TV but can be heard via kall700sports.com and on AM 700 in the Salt Lake City area. I'll be at the game and you can follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/dpaysports for updates. Go Utes!

Runnin' Utes suffer bad home loss

The Utah Runnin' Utes (3-2) lost at home tonight to Oral Roberts (2-3) by a score of 78-70. The Utes trailed 34-18 late in the first half, before going on an 11-0 run bridging the halves to cut the deficit to five. I thought they were going to take over and win, but that's not what happened. Utah actually took the lead at 52-50 with about 11 minutes to go, but couldn't hold it and the Golden Eagles prevailed. It's a bad loss for the Runnin' Utes, just a real bad loss. I could mope about it more right now, but I'm not going to let anything dampen my enthusiasm after a big win in football today that I'm going to discuss here shortly. I'll have more thoughts on the basketball team at a later time because I don't want to bring myself down right now. The Runnin' Utes host Fresno State (1-3) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. MT.

Runnin' Utes lose to Utah State; host Oral Roberts tonight

The Utah Runnin' Utes (3-1) lost at Utah State (3-1) by a score of 79-62 on Wednesday night. Don't be too deceived by the score as that was the Aggies' biggest lead of the night and came when Tai Wesley made a 3-pointer with under 10 seconds to go in the game. The Utes trailed throughout, but stayed within striking distance for most of the game. I was particularly impressed with an early second half run that cut the Aggies' lead to one. This run, however, was short-lived and Utah State was able to push the lead back up. The Utes looked competitive, but I wasn't really surprised that they dropped this game on the road to a good Utah State team. I was encouraged that Utah showed some heart and managed to stay in the game, however.

It was fun to be at The Spectrum in person to see an in-state rivalry like this, even though my team lost. I think it would be a shame if this rivalry were to be discontinued, as is the rumor. I know Utah is moving to the Pac-10, but this rivalry goes way back and I think they should find a way to keep it going. The Spectrum is a very hostile environment to play in, but I had fun being there even so and would love to be at a game there someday when the Utes beat the Aggies. Who knows when I might have that chance again. I think rivalries are good for college basketball and hope the two schools find a way to continue this one.

Utah hosts Oral Roberts (1-3) tonight at 7 p.m. MT at the Huntsman Center. The game will not be televised, but can heard via the internet at kall700sports.com and in Utah on AM 700. The Golden Eagles don't appear to be a very good team and the Utes should handle them. I'd like to see them bounce back from the loss Wednesday with a comfortable win.