Basketball Preview: Murray Spartans vs. Tooele Buffaloes
The Murray Spartans will be playing at home against the Tooele Buffaloes at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Murray will be strutting in after a victory while the Buffaloes will be coming in after a defeat.
Last Thursday, Murray earned a 55-46 win over the Stallions.
Charlotte Scherbel and Vanessa Anaafi were among the main playmakers for Murray as the former scored 16 points and the latter scored 11 points along with four steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Akur Daniel, who scored six points.
Meanwhile, Tooele's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Thursday after their third straight loss. They took a 43-38 hit to the loss column at the hands of Cottonwood. Tooele has not had much luck with the Colts recently, as the team's come up short the last five times they've met.
Despite the loss, Tooele saw an underclassman step up: Kennedy Searle scored 12 points along with seven rebounds. Another player making a difference was Aleah Ashby, who scored six points along with six rebounds.
Murray's win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 10-8. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 63.3 points per game. As for Tooele, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost six of their last eight games, which put a noticeable dent in their 7-10 record this season.
This contest is one where the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: Murray have been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 29.7 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Tooele struggles in that department as they've been averaging 32.9 rebounds per game. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Murray strolled past the Buffaloes in their previous meeting back in January by a score of 61-46. Will Murray repeat their success, or do the Buffaloes have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
