Preview of Utah Men's Basketball vs. Southern California

Nov. 29, 2000

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The Game at a Glance

Utah Acting Coach: Dick Hunsaker Southern California Coach: Henry Bibby
Alma Mater: Weber State `77 Alma Mater: UCLA `72
Season at Utah: 3rd Record at USC: 60-57/5th Season
Record as Acting Coach: 3-1 Overall Record: 60-57/5th Season
Rankings: Utah is 18th in the A.P. Poll and 20th in the USA Today/ESPN Poll. Southern California is 15th in the A.P. Poll and 18th in the USA Today/ESPN Poll.
Television: Originated by KCAL-TV in Los Angeles and sydicated by Raycom. Shown in Salt Lake City on KJZZ-TV. Bob Neal (play-by-play) and Bill Walton (analyst).
Radio: Utah Sports Network (KALL-910 AM in Salt Lake City and affiliate stations). On the Internet at www.UtahUtes.com. Bill Marcroft (play-by-play), Mark Rydalch (analyst) and Brad Stone (host).
Series Record: Tied 14-14
Utah's Record Home/Away/Neutral: 9-4/4-7/1-3
Last Meeting: Utah defeated Southern California, 84-49, on Dec. 23, 1995 in Salt Lake City.

A Quick Look At Utah
The Utes are 4-1 on the season after defeating Cardinal Stritch, 93-47, on Tuesday night in Salt Lake City. Utah also won two of its three games in the Puerto Rico Shootout, Thursday through Saturday of last week. In the tournament, Utah defeated American-Puerto Rico (94-37) on Thursday, lost to Georgia (65-60) on Friday in the semifinals and defeated Memphis (61-58) on Saturday in the third-place game.

Utah has three players averaging nine points per game or better. Junior forward/guard Jeff Johnsen (11.8 ppg) and junior guard Kevin Bradley (11.8 ppg) are tied for first in scoring. Johnsen is shooting 76.9 percent from the field and 82.4 percent from the line, while Bradley also leads the Utes in assists (3.0). Senior center Nate Althoff is third on the team in scoring (9.2 ppg) and leads the team in free throw percentage (83.9). Junior forward/center Chris Burgess is fourth on the roster in scoring (8.2 ppg) and second in rebounding (5.0 rpg). Junior forward Phil Cullen is fifth on the team in scoring (7.8 ppg) and first in rebounding (5.8 rpg).

Through five games, the Utes have outscored the opposition 75.8 to 54.4 points per game, shooting 51.4 percent from the field, 39.3 percent from three-point range and 69.6 percent from the free throw line. Utah has outrebounded its opponents 35.2 to 26.8, but has 67 assists to 91 turnovers.

Utah welcomes back one starter and three other letterwinners from last season, as well as two return missionaries who played on the 1998 Final Four team. Utah went 23-9 overall, advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and tied for the inaugural Mountain West Conference championship with a 10-4 record in 1999-2000.

Rick Majerus Sidelined with Knee Injury Until January
Head coach Rich Majerus will not rejoin the team until the first week of January in an effort to recover from knee surgery. Majerus coached the Utes in their first game of the regular season against Idaho State on Nov. 17, but did not coach the team during the Puerto Rico Shootout last weekend due to excessive pain and swelling in the knee. His therapist, Keith Kleven, has advised him to take the next five weeks off to undergo a rigid, structured therapy program. Majerus will spend the next two weeks at Kleven's clinic. Dick Hunsaker, who is in his third year as an assistant coach at Utah, will continue to serve as the acting head coach in Majerus' absence. Hunsaker has directed the Utes to a 3-1 record and a third-place finish in the Puerto Rico Shootout.

In recent weeks, Majerus has been experiencing severe complications from a late September knee operation. Majerus will undergo extensive rehabilitation in an effort to avoid a second surgery and regain mobility and full use of his right knee.

Wooden Classic Preview, Looking Ahead to Southern and Scouting Southern California
Utah will face Southern California is the John Wooden Classic on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. (PST) at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, Calif. The Utah/Southern California game will follow the UCLA vs. Georgia Tech match-up at 12:00 p.m. PST.

The Trojans, ranked 15th by A.P. and 18th by USA Today/ESPN, are off to a 3-0 start. Southern California defeated Bradley (107-92) on Nov. 18, San Diego (78-67) on Nov. 21 and Loyola Marymount (91-68) on Nov. 25. Saturday's game will be USC's first away from the L.A. Sports Arena.

All five starters are averaging 11.0 points per game or better. Junior 6-7 forward Sam Clancy leads the team in scoring (21.3 ppg) and rebounding (6.7 rpg). Junior 5-9 guard Brandon Granville is second on the Trojan roster in scoring (16.3 ppg) and first in assists (8.0 apg). He is also shooting 8-of-16 from three-point range. Southern California has outscored its first three opponents 92.6 to 75.7 points per game, but has been outrebounded 34.3 to 31.7. Southern California is shooting 47.2 percent from the field, 50.0 percent from three-point range and 72.4 percent from the free throw line.

Wooden Classic Flashback
Utah is making its second appearance in the John Wooden Classic this Saturday. The Utes last played in the tournament on Dec. 7, 1996 when it lost to eventual national champion Arizona, 69-61.

The Utes led the Wildcats 40-29 at halftime before making just 8-of-20 field goals and committing 11 turnovers in the second half. Two Californians, senior Keith Van Horn and sophomore Andre Miller, led the Utes in scoring. Van Horn had 15 points and eight rebounds, while Miller contributed 17 points and four assists.

Southern California Ties
Utah has several connections to Southern California. Two current Utes players are from the area. Chris Burgess, in his first season of playing for the Utes after transferring from Duke, is a native of Irvine, Calif., and played one season at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana before playing his final three years at Woodbridge High School. Kevin Bradley is from Los Angeles and played last season at Compton Community College. He is a graduate of Crenshaw High School. Second-year Ute administrative assistant Scott Garson is a native of Calabasas, Calif. He is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara and worked at Pepperdine as an administrative assistant in 1998-99.

Two of the all-time greatest players in Utah history, consensus All-Americans Keith Van Horn and Andre Miller, are from the area. Van Horn, who played for the Utes 1993-97 and is in his fourth year with the New Jersey Nets, is a graduate of Diamond Bar High School. Miller, who played for the Utes 1995-99 and is in his second year with the Cleveland Cavaliers, is a graduate of Verbum Dei High School in Los Angeles.

Team Notes

The Dick Hunsaker File
Dick Hunsaker, in his third year at Utah, is serving as the acting head coach until the first of the year as Rick Majerus rehabilitates from knee surgery. His record at Utah's acting head coach is 3-1.

Hunsaker was the associate head coach under Majerus at Ball State from 1987-89. Hunsaker came to Utah from Manchester College in North Manchester, Ind., where he had been the head coach since 1995. During his three years at Manchester, he posted a 51-27 record and led the Spartans to three of the 10 winningest seasons in the college's 85-year history.

Hunsaker was the head coach at Ball State from 1989-93. He compiled a 97-33 record with the Cardinals, giving him the seventh-best four-year coaching record in NCAA history. During his stay in Muncie, Ind., Ball State made two trips to the NIT and two appearances in the NCAA Tournament. He led the Cardinals to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1990. Hunsaker posted four 20-win seasons at BSU. His teams also captured two Mid-American Conference championships and placed second twice. Hunsaker has a 148-61 (.708) record as a college head coach.

Game #5 Rewind
Kevin Bradley and Jeff Johnsen each scored a 20 points as No. 18 Utah beat Cardinal Stritch 93-47 on Tuesday night. After Cardinal Stritch, an NAIA school from Milwaukee, Wis., took a 9-2 lead on Greg Arnold's jumper, Utah coach Dick Hunsaker replaced the entire starting lineup except Bradley with Chris Burgess, Britton Johnsen, Trace Caton and Nick Jacobson. That group went on a 17-2 run over the next five minutes.

Bradley, a junior college transfer, was 8-of-10 from the field in his best offensive game for the Utes. Jeff Johnsen also set a career-high for scoring. Utah shot 55 percent for the game. Utah closed the first half with a 9-3 run, and used a 20-1 run early in the second to make it 64-31.

Puerto Rico Shootout Rewind
Britton Johnsen's tip-in in the final minute cemented Utah's 61-58 victory over Memphis in the third-place game of the Puerto Rico Shootout. Jeff Johnsen and Nate Althoff each scored 15 points and Chris Burgess added 12 for the Utes.

Utah, which trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half, tied the score at 44 with 11:51 remaining in the second half. Capitalizing on Memphis turnovers, the Utes used a 6-0 run for a 50-44 lead before the Tigers knotted the game at 50 with seven minutes remaining. Utah again spurted ahead before the Tigers rallied to cut the lead to 59-58 with 47 seconds remaining on a pair of free throws by Scooter McFadgon. A jumper by Utah's Kevin Bradley missed the mark, but Johnsen tipped in the miss to seal the win for the Utes.

Georgia overcame a nine-point deficit to Utah 65-60 on Friday in the semifinals. Althoff and Burgess each scored 12 points for Utah.

Utah led 45-36 with 12:13 remaining, but Georgia used a 12-2 run to take a 48-47 lead with 8:43 left. Utah fought back to tie it three times before Georgia scored five straight points to take a 57-52 lead with 3:42 left. Althoff completed a three-point play to cut the lead to two with 3:22 showing, but Georgia pulled away from there.

Trace Caton scored a career-high 19 points and Utah closed the first half with a 39-6 run Thursday, powering the Utes to a 94-37 rout of American-Puerto Rico in the first round of the Puerto Rico Shootout.

Utah's 94-point outburst against American University was the second-most points it has scored since a 96-52 win over UNLV on Feb. 21, 2000. The 57-point win was Utah's second-largest margin of victory since 1950, bettered only by a 105-38 win over Chicago State on Dec. 20, 1994.

The Utes outrebounded their Division II opponent 45-15. Burgess had 11 points for Utah, which used 13 players, each playing at least 11 minutes. Kevin Bradley had 10 points and six assists. Utah opened a 10-point lead with 11:44 left in the half on a 3-point shot by Bradley. From there, the Utes went on a 39-6 run to end the half with a 59-16 lead.

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