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Men's Basketball Prepares for Weber State
6/21/1999 12:00 AM | Men's Basketball
December 8, 1998
UTAH (4-3) VS WEBER STATE (4-2)
QUICKLY: The Utes moved to 4-3 on the season with their 61-54 victory at Long Beach State Saturday ... Utes just completed a string of six straight road games ... they face Weber State Wednesday at 7:35 p.m. in the Huntsman Center ... it will be the first home game for Utah since Nov. 14 ... Weber game will be broadcast on K-news radio and televised live on KJZZ-TV ... Utes are ranked 22nd this week in the USA Today/ESPN poll and in the Associated Press poll
MAJERUS' MARK: Ute coach RICK MAJERUS is in his 10th season at the helm of the Runnin' Utes. Majerus has a 214-62 (.775) mark as Ute coach, the best record of any coach in the modern era of Utah basketball. He is in his 14th year as a major college head coach and has a 313-114 career record. His .733 career winning percentage ranks him seventh in the country among active coaches and 21st all-time. Majerus has won six WAC titles and made six trips to the NCAA Tournament, reaching the "Sweet 16" four times, the "Elite Eight" twice and the "Final Four" once.
PROBABLE UTE STARTERS
F-50 Alex Jensen (6-7, 215, Jr), 10.3 6.3, 3.4
F-13 Hanno Mottola (6-10, 240, Jr), 14.3, 6.4
C-52 Nate Althoff (6-11, 245, So), 4.6, 3.9
G-32 Jeremy Killion (6-0, 197, Jr), 7.1, 2.9
G-24 Andre Miller (6-2, 203, Sr), 19.4, 5.9, 5.6
OFF THE BENCH
F-40 Phil Cullen (6-9, 200, Fr), 3.4, 3.9
G-4 Adam Sharp (6-2, 184, Fr), 3.9, 2.1
F-20 Brad Crockett (6-4, 208, Fr), 0.3, 0.6
F-41 Tyson Johnston (6-10, 233, Fr), 0.5, 1.2
G-11 Ben Heusser (5-11, 177, Fr), 0.0, 0.5
UTES AMONG THE TOP TEAMS IN THE 90'S: The Runnin' Utes have been one of the most successful college basketball teams in this decade. Under coach RICK MAJERUS the Utes have posted a 226-74 record for a .753 winning percentage in the 1990's. Utah is ranked 8th in the nation in winning percentage and 9th in total victories during the decade.
ANDRE TIME: ANDRE MILLER leads the Ute attack this season. The 6-2, senior guard was a non-qualifier as a freshman but became one of the first athletes to take advantage of a new NCAA rule allowing non-qualifiers an extra year of eligibility if they graduated in four years. Miller received his degree in sociology last June and the Utes are the better for it this season.
Andre had an outstanding NCAA Tournament. He was named the MVP of the West Region after the Utes knocked off defending champion Arizona 76-51. In that game Miller became the first player since Magic Johnson to hit for a triple double when he scored 18 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and passed for 13 assists. He also was named to the "Final Four" all-Tournament team as the Utes made it to the NCAA Championship game. For the six NCAA games Andre averaged 16.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game. Andre had a great week scoring a then career-high 28 points against Rhode Island on Wednesday and then coming back Saturday at Long Beach to set a new career-high with 29 points. He also had 12 rebounds and 7 steals in the two games.
Currently Andre is leading the Utes in scoring averaging 19.4 points per game. He is also averaging 5.9 rebounds and 5.6 assists for the season. Miller's floor game is excellent this year as he is averaging 5.6 assists to just 3.3 turnovers per game.
ANDRE HONORS: ANDRE MILLER is a candidate for the Wooden and Naismith Player of the Year Awards. He has also been named to most pre-season All-American teams including garnering first team honors on the Associated Press and Playboy Magazine pre-season teams. He is rated by most pre-season publications as one of the top two point guards in the nation. This year he has been named to the all-tournament team at the Maui Invitational and the MVP of the Great Eight Tournament.
UTES DOWN LONG BEACH STATE: Utah ended their six game road trip with a 61-54 victory over Long Beach State Saturday night in Long Beach. The Utes battled the pesky 49ers all night before coming up with the win. ANDRE MILLER took over the game in the second half as he finished the night with a career-high 29 points. He also had 6 rebounds and 3 assists. ALEX JENSEN finished with a season high 15 points and 10 rebounds. HANNO MOTTOLA had a career-high 12 rebounds. Utah shot just .396 from the field but held Long Beach to .357 shooting from the floor. They outrebounded the 49ers 45-34.
SERIES RECORD VS. WEBER STATE: Utah leads in the series against the Wildcats 16-10 ... last year the Utes won 87-72 in Ogden ... Utes have won last four in a row ... last Weber win was a 98-85 victory in Ogden during the 1993 season ... last Wildcat win in Salt Lake was a 86-81 victory during the 1978 season.
PROBABLE WILDCAT STARTERS:
F-21 Harold Arceneaux (6-6, 215, Jr), 23.3, 5.3
F-00 Eric Ketcham (6-9, 230, Sr), 1.6, 3.6
C-32 Andy Jensen (6-7, 230, Sr), 8.2, 6.8
G-3 Damien Baskerville (6-3, 215, Sr), 8.3, 5.0, 3.8
G-4 Eddie Gill (6-0, 190, Jr), 12.8, 2.3, 3.8
UTES VS. THE BIG SKY: Utah is 112-45 vs. Big Sky Conference teams over the years.
BROTHER VS. BROTHER: The Utah-Weber State game will feature a brother act when Utah's ALEX JENSEN faces his brother ANDY the starting center for the Wildcats. The 6-7 Alex is a junior while Andy (6-7) is a senior. Both are playing well this season. Alex is averaging 10.3 points and 6.3 rebounds for the Utes while Andy is scoring 8.2 points and is the top Wildcat rebounder pulling down 6.8 boards per game.
RADIO: The Utah-Weber State game will be broadcast live on K-news (570 AM) radio and the Utah Sports Network. Stations on the network are KOAL (Price), KVEC (Vernal), KSVC (Richfield), KSGI (St. George), KUTA (Blanding) and KSHP (Las Vegas). BILL MARCROFT will call the play-by-play with JEFF JONAS adding color commentary. BRAD STONE handles pre and post game and halftime duties. Tipoff time in Salt Lake is 7:35 p.m.
TV: The Utah-Weber State game will be televised live on KJZZ-TV STEVE BROWN will call the play-by-play with FRANK LAYDEN doing color.
UTES IN THE HUNTSMAN CENTER: The Utes have won 22 straight games in the Jon M. Huntsman Center dating back to the 1996-97 season. Last year the Utes were 13-0 in the JMHC. Last loss in the building was to Wake Forest (70-59) on Dec. 31, 1996.
ANDRE ON CAREER SCORING CHART: ANDRE MILLER is ranked 17th on the Ute career scoring chart with 1,234 points. He needs 58 points to pass KEN GARDNER, 1968-71, 1291 points) to move into the 16th spot on the list.
ANDRE'S ASSISTS: Miller is in third place on the career assist list with 574. He needs 30 assists to pass SCOTT MARTIN (1978-81) to move into second place on the list. Current Utah radio color man JEFF JONAS (1974-77) is the Utes' career assist leader with 736 during his career.
MAJERUS RADIO SHOW: The weekly Rick Majerus radio show can be heard every Tuesday night from 6:05 -7:00 p.m. on KALL RADIO (910). BRAD STONE is the host.
MAJERUS TV SHOW: The weekly Rick Majerus television show can be seen every Saturday at 10:00 a.m. on KJZZ-TV (channel 14, channel 3 on cable).
DEFENSIVE DARLINGS: The Utes continue to play excellent defense. Currently, Ute opponents are shooting .371 from the field for the season. Only Rhode Island has shot over 50 percent against the Utes in a game this year. Utah's best performance this season came against Arizona State when the Sun Devils shot just .250 from the floor for the game.
RICK'S REMARKS: "I think the effort is good and the attitude of the guys has been superb. It's good to be home and we hope we get fan support. We are going to play a very good Weber team, probably the best in the decade that I have been at Utah, certainly the most athletic. My expectations are that it will be a very difficult game. Weber has a lot of firepower. Anytime Damien Baskerville goes from the leading scorer last year to the fourth leading scorer this year you know there is some offensive talent ahead of him. Weber is always well coached and they play very good defense and we expect that to be a demanding game. I think our team is making progress. The role recognition is getting better, the effort is outstanding and we are becoming somewhat more cohesive as a unit."
UP NEXT: The Utes travel to Texas for a Saturday (Dec. 12) night game against the Longhorns. That game will be televised on KJZZ-TV and will tipoff at 6:00 p.m. Salt Lake time. It will be the last road game for the Utes until Jan. 9 when they travel to BYU. Between Texas and BYU the Utes will play five home games.
UTE NOTES: This will be the Utes second game in the battle for the Old Oquirrh Bucket which yearly goes to the top college basketball team in the State of Utah. Utah is 0-1 in the battle for the bucket with their early season loss to Utah State. Weber is 1-0 with a 83-80 win over BYU. The Utes have won the bucket the last four years in a row.
UTE PLAYER UPDATES
#24 ANDRE MILLER, G (6-2, 203, SR. LOS ANGELES, CALIF.)-Candidate for Wooden and Naismith Awards ... named first team pre-season All-American ... serves as team captain ... is in 17th place on career scoring chart, third place on career assist list and second place on career steals list ... opened season with 10 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals in win over Azusa Pacific ... 18 points and 7 boards in Utah State game ... 24 points in win over Arizona State in Maui ... had 15 points and a season-high 12 assists in Ute win over Michigan top Ute scorer ... went 9-10 from free throw line in that game ... 28 points in Great Eight loss to Rhode Island ... also had 6 steals to tie career-high and set Great Eight single-game record ... career-high 29 points in win at Long Beach ... named to Maui Inviational All-Tournament team and MVP of the Great Eight ... named WAC Player of the Week for his games against Rhode Island and Long Beach State ... leads Utes in scoring (19.4), assists (5.6) and steals (2.7) ... also top field goal shooter hitting .563 ... averaging 5.6 assists to 2.7 turnovers per game.
#13 HANNO MOTTOLA, F (6-10, 240, JR. HELSINKI, FINLAND)-Led Utes in scoring with 16 points in opening win over Azusa Pacific ... 12 points, 8 rebounds in Utah State game ... led Utes in scoring in Indiana game with 17 points ... top Ute scorer and rebounder in Michigan win with 21 points and 6 rebounds ... 13 points against Rhode Island ... career-high 12 rebounds vs. Long Beach State ... averaging 14.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.
#50 ALEX JENSEN, F (6-7, 215, JR. CENTERVILLE, UTAH)-Hit for 14 points in first game against Azusa Pacific ... went 6-8 from the field in that game ... had 11 points and 7 boards in USU game ... has passed for career-high 7 assists against Azusa Pacific and Arizona State ... had 9 points in Ute win over Michigan ... season -high 15 points and 10 rebounds in win at Long Beach ... averaging 10.3 points and 6.3 boards per game ... also averaging 3.4 assists per game.
#32 JEREMY KILLION, G (6-0, 197, JR. SAN DIEGO, CALIF.)-Started first game of college career against Azusa Pacific ... hit for 10 points and 3 rebounds in that game ... 4 points, 4 assists, 3 steals vs. Utah State ... 7 points, 6 rebounds in Indiana game ... career-high 18 points against Michigan on 6-12 shooting from three-point range ... averaging 7.1 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.
#40 PHIL CULLEN, F (6-9, 200, FR. CHELAN, WASH.)-Started first game of college career against Azusa Pacific ... scored 10 points and had 6 rebounds and 3 steals in that game ... 4 points, 3 rebounds vs. USU ... 4 rebounds vs. Arizona State and Indiana ... career-high 7 rebounds in win at Long Beach ... averaging 3.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.
#52 NATE ALTHOFF, C (6-11, 245, SO. DELANO, MINN.)-Suffered broken index finger in pre-season drills ... first game back was Azusa Pacific where he scored 10 points and grabbed 7 rebounds ... first start against Arizona State ... had 3 points and 4 rebounds ... had 6 rebounds and career-high 4 blocks against Indiana ... had 6 points against Michigan ... 5 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals in Long Beach win ... averaging 4.6 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.
#4 ADAM SHARP, G (6-2, 184, FR. SALT LAKE CITY)-Redshirt freshman ... hit for 4 points and 4 rebounds in first college game against Azusa Pacific ... 5 points and 4 rebounds in Arizona State win ... 3 steals and played excellent defense against Indiana ... had great defensive game against Michigan with 3 steals ... played well in Rhode Island game with career-high 7 points ... also had 4 rebounds in the game ... averaging 2.9 points per game.
#20 BRAD CROCKETT, F (6-4, 208, FR. CENTERVILLE, UTAH)-Played 14 minutes in first college game against Azusa Pacific ... 2 points against Arizona State ... played good defense vs. Indiana ... did excellent defensive job in Rhode Island game.
#41 TYSON JOHNSTON, F (6-10, 233, FR. STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, COL.)-Had 2 points and 3 rebounds in first college game against Azusa Pacific ... had 2 rebounds, 1 block in USU game ... played 4 minutes against Michigan and 8 minutes vs. Rhode Island.
#11 BEN HEUSSER, G (5-11, 177, FR. PRESTON, IDAHO)-Played 11 minutes in first college game against Azusa Pacific ... played 2 minutes in ASU game.
RICK MAJERUS
HEAD BASKETBALL COACH
Nine years under Head Coach Rick Majerus has entrenched the University of Utah in the nation's basketball power structure. Majerus, the winningest Utah basketball coach in modern times (214-62, .775 winning percentage), has led the Utes to unprecedented success. That fact was crystallized when Majerus led his 1997-98 Utes to the NCAA "Final Four" where they beat number one ranked North Carolina in the semifinals to advance to the final game. It was the first time since 1944 a Ute team had made it to an NCAA Championship game.
In the 90-year history of Utah basketball, the Utes have never enjoyed a nine-year stretch like the Majerus tenure. Despite the fact Majerus coached just six games in his first season, due to heart surgery, his clubs have averaged 23 wins per year during that time. His seven postseason appearances (six NCAA) is a school coaching benchmark. Never before has a Ute team advanced to the Sweet 16 four times in a seven-year span. Majerus' teams own six Western Athletic Conference championships, including the last four, a feat never before achieved at Utah. In 1996-97, his Utes captured both the Mountain Division crown and the WAC Tournament title. Last year, Utah repeated as the WAC Mountain Division champion with a 12-2 record.
Majerus' success goes far beyond the conference level. In six trips to the NCAA as Utah's coach, he has yet to lose a first round game. Utah, Kentucky and Arizona are the only teams to make the Sweet Sixteen in each of the last three years. For the second straight year, Majerus led his team into the Elite Eight. For the last two years, his teams have taken up permanent residence in the Top-10. He coached last year's team to Utah's first Final Four berth in 22 years.
Actually, it is his second "Final Four" of some sort at Utah. In 1992, Utah made the Final Four of the National Invitational Tournament. In terms of wins and losses, Majerus has few peers. His .734 career winning percentage is seventh among active NCAA coaches and ranks 21st all-time. Majerus' feats have earned him national recognition and respect. The three-time WAC Coach of the Year (1991, '93, '95), was tapped for national honors in 1991 (Basketball Times' and UPI Coach of the Year) and 1992 (Playboy Coach of the Year). He received Playboy National Coach of the Year honors again in 1998. He is also a six-time District Coach of the Year. In a previous two-year stint with Ball State, Majerus received The Hoop Scoop Coach of the Year honors in 1988-89.
Most recently, the WAC media voted him Mountain Division Coach of the Year in 1996-97. He also was voted the John Wooden National Coach of the Year for 1997-98 by the Utah Tip Off Club. Success has followed Majerus at all of his stops. His head coaching career began at Marquette, where he compiled a 56-35 record from 1983-86 and took his teams to three NIT Tournaments. He preceded his Utah tenure with a successful two-year stint at Ball State, where he logged a 43-17 mark, including a 29-3 record and an NCAA 2nd Round berth in 1988-89. Majerus has an international resume, as well. He served during the summer of 1997 as the head coach of the USA Basketball Men's 22 and under team that competed in the World Championships in Melbourne, Australia. He spent the summer of 1994 as an assistant coach to Don Nelson for the USA "Dream Team 2, which featured the top NBA players in the Men's World Basketball Championships in Toronto.
Majerus' reach extends into the classroom. In his time at Utah, 86 players have made the honor roll, including nine winter quarter and seven spring quarter. Michael Doleac was named to the 1998 GTE Academic All-America first team, while Drew Hansen made the third team. The Utes were the only school with two players on the 1998 GTE Academic All-America squad. Hansen also won the 1997 Playboy Magazine Anson Mount Scholar/Athlete Award for basketball, was a Rhodes Scholar candidate, an NCAA Post Graduate Scholarship winner and was a finalist for the Walter Byers Award, the highest academic award given by the NCAA. The 1997-98 Utes racked up an excellent 3.31 team GPA spring quarter.
RICK'S RECORD
YEAR TEAM RECORD WAC FINISH POSTSEASON 1998-99 UTAH 4-3 1997-98 Utah 30-4 1st NCAA Championship Game 1996-97 Utah 28-3 1st NCAA "Elite Eight" 1995-96 Utah 27-7 1st NCAA "Sweet 16" 1994-95 Utah 28-6 1st NCAA 2nd Round 1993-94 Utah 14-14 5th (tie) 1992-93 Utah 24-7 1st NCAA 2nd Round 1991-92 Utah 24-11 4th NIT "Final Four" 1990-91 Utah 30-4 1st NCAA "Sweet 16" 1989-90 Utah 4-2* 6th (tie) 1988-89 Ball State 29-3 NCAA 2nd Round 1987-88 Ball State 14-14 1985-86 Marquette 19-11 NIT 1984-85 Marquette 20-11 NIT 1983-84 Marquette 17-13 NIT Utah Total 214-62 (.775), 9 years Career Total 313-114 (.733), 14 years (7th in the country)
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