Oregon State Men's basketball preview against Utah

Whether you are talking about the transfers, injuries and suspensions of important players, and just the overall lack of talent to begin with, there is virtually no doubt in anyone's mind that Utah is one of the worst high major teams in the country, at least for this season. Most Utah fans are OK with giving a grace period for new coach Larry Krystkowiak, considering the roster turmoil that started well before the season, but it doesn't make their brand of basketball any easier to watch. Ladies and gentlemen and les autres, your Utah Utes after the jump.

Where do I begin with this team? Well, let's start with the offensive end of the floor. The Utes have trouble, scoring, shooting 41% from the floor. They don't help themselves as they took the 5th most amount of 3s in the Pac despite shooting 31% there. Considering that they play a slow tempo, and that each possession is even more important as they don't have a lot of them, they are simply put not an efficient offensive team. Not shooting the ball is already an issue, but they have more; their FT percentage is subpar (60%). Not that they get to the line often in the first place. They are also the worst team in terms of assist to turnover ratio. One more weakness: They don't crash the glass that well, which can only help OSU on the battle of the boards.

Now we get to the defensive end, where the picture is a tad bit rosier. The Utes are a good defensive rebounding team. But that's where the positives end (see what I mean when I said that Utah is not that good?) Opponents shoot 49% from the floor and 44% from 3. They don't block a ton of shots or force that many turnovers. Oh, and they foul a lot, too, even though opponents don't shoot well from there for some unknown reason...

There is already a Q and A session with a Utah basketball expert from BlockU about how thin this roster is. Their best option aka their lone double digit scorer in the Pac 12 so far, Jason Washburn, is a tall guy who converts from inside but has struggled with inconsistency. Complementing him are Chris Hines and Cedric Martin, the team's designated shooters, converting over 35% of their 3s. They average around 6-8 points per contest. Dijon Farr is their resident slasher while Kareem Storey is the fill-in point guard after Josh Watkins was dismissed from the team. Storey is doing a good job dishing out the assists but like most freshman point guards struggle with turnovers. Beyond them there are 3 point a game contributors off the bench like Anthony Odunsi and Javon Dawson.

This is a game where OSU has a great chance of winning; the talent and momentum is there, so now begs the question: Will the Beavers take care of business and rout a bad team on their home floor? More importantly, can we get closer to .500? We shall see...