State of Basketball in the State of Utah
With a few weeks remaining until March Madness kicks off, here is what's happening when it comes to college basketball within the Beehive State.
BYU Cougars
BYU reps an 18-10 record, with a good chance of reaching that 20-win threshold yet again. They are second in the standings to Gonzaga, as usual, in the West Coast Conference.
The Cougars are led by junior Yoeli Childs, from South Jordan Utah, who averages 21 points and nine rebounds a game while shooting over 50% from the field.
BYU nearly swept the in-state competition as they beat UVU (75-65), Utah State (95-80), and Utah (74-59) but fell to Weber State in a shootout, 113-103.
Utah Utes
Despite a 14-11 overall record, the Utes are 8-5 in conference and tied for third in the standings. In fact, with a few more bounces there way, they could finish 2nd in the conference (behind Washington with a firm lead at 11-1 in conference) as a half-game is all that separates the Utes from a silver-medal finish at this point.
Sedrick Barefield, a senior, leads the team with 16 points and four assists per game.
Perhaps the highlight of the season so far is when Parker Van Dyke, a freshman, nailed a game-winning triple to complete a 22-point over UCLA in early February.
Utah State Aggies
The boys from Logan have raced to a 20-win season as they sit 20-6 on the season. Impressively, they are also in second place in the Mountain West with a 10-3 in-conference record. Nevada is 1.5 games ahead, but should the Aggies win-out in their last three games (including a date with the Wolf-Pack), they could see themselves as conference champs.
Sam Merrill, a junior, paces the Aggies with 20 points per game, but freshman big man Neemias Queta is soon to be a force. From Portugal, Queta is averaging 11 points, nine rebounds, and almost three blocks while shooting 62% from the floor. He's good and will be good for a while.
As for a highlight, here's another game-winner.
Utah Valley Wolverines
Not to be outdone, the other team from Prove is piling up wins. On the season, UVU is 17-8 with six games remaining in their WAC schedule.
A highlight for UVU occurred as they took down Fresno State, from the Mountain West, on the road in a 64-60 underdog upset.
Weber State Wildcats
Weber State will likely make a run in their conference tournament, but their regular season has been a little too up and down for their liking. The 'Cats are 16-10 on the season and in third place for the Big Sky.
Jerrick Harding, a junior from Wichita Kansas, scores 22 a ball game to lead the boys in purple.
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