Tuesday, November 27, 2012

The Texas trip

This week the Utes head south to Texas to take on Southern Methodist (Wednesday) and Texas State (Friday).  It's all part of Coach Krystkowiak's pre-season scheduling scheme, which he carefully designed to prepare the team for various components of Pac-12 play.  This week, the team will learn the nuances of a two-game road trip and play the first game of a home-and-home (vs. SMU).

Southern Methodist: The Mustangs are coached (of course) by Larry Brown.  They started off the season 5-0 but had a rough go of it last week at a tournament in Mexico.  There, they lost a head-scratcher to Arkansas-Little Rock before edging Missouri State by one point. They have five guys who average right around 10 ppg or better, each of whom pull down at least 4.5 rpg. I haven't had a chance to watch them play yet, but it sounds like Coach Brown is working hard to get the team ready for life in the Big East.

Texas State: The Bobcats are one of the new members of the WAC.  They just placed seventh (out of eight teams) in the Great Alaskan Shootout last week.  They've got a couple guys who average 15 and 5 and a couple who average 9 and 3. From the stat sheet, they appear to be a veteran team poised to finish in the middle of the WAC. 

For what it's worth, SMU and Texas State already faced off this season, with the Mustangs winning 78-75.  SMU led by as many as 15 in the second half.  The Bobcats ended the game on a 15-6 run, but it wasn't enough to get the win.  Joel Wright had 28 points and 5 rebounds for Texas State; Jalen Jones led SMU with 24 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks.

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