Utah Utes Basketball v UCLA

Jan 30, 2014; Eugene, OR, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Steve Alford at the end of the game against the Oregon Ducks at Matthew Knight Arena. Mandatory Credit: Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports

Utah heads to Westwood today to take on Steve Alford, his creepy 80’s hairstyle and the UCLA Bruins today in exciting Pac-12 basketball.

As you’ll recall, Utah, in the first meeting, had a 17 point lead, then looked like fools as they wilted under a press and nearly gave the game back to UCLA.  In fact if UCLA goes to Kyle Anderson instead of Zach Levine trying to rush a couple of possessions, the Bruins likely would have won.

The Utes got their first road win of the season on Thursday night and a win today would go a long way towards getting Utah into the NCAA discussion.  But the Utes also nearly gave a game back to USC on the road on Thursday, and road wins have been tough to come by in the Pac-12.

So what do we expect today?

I don’t know if I can see the Utes winning this game. It would be nice to win because UCLA fans are annoying, not Arizona St. fan annoying but I think you all know what I mean.

The Utes also have the advantage of Steve Alford just doing stupid things once in awhile.  But then we’re Utah and this is a road game.

I expect we’ll see a close game for 30 minutes.  But shots that fell for us in Salt Lake won’t, shots that didn’t fall for UCLA in Salt Lake will and the Bruins will pull away.

The Utes got their spilt in LA which was the key to keeping lots of good things possible.  A win would be awesome, a loss, acceptable.