Men's Basketball Notes - Exhibition Game #2 - University of Utah Athletics

Nov. 2, 2001

Exhibition Game #2

Utah Utes vs. London Leopards

Nov. 7 - 7:04 p.m. (MST) - Jon M. Huntsman Center (15,000) - Salt Lake City

Game Data

Utah plays the last of its two exhibition games against the London Leopards on Wednesday at 7:04 p.m. (MST) in the Jon M. Huntsman Center.

Scouting the Leopards

The London Leopards are a club team making a five-game tour of the United States. London plays at Bucknell on Friday and Northern Iowa on Monday before taking on the Runnin' Utes. The Leopards close out their trip with games at BYU on Nov. 10 and San Francisco on Nov. 11.

Utes Hold Off Late Rally From EA Sports in Exhibition Season Opener

Utah opened its exhibition season with a 72-67 win over the EA Sports All-Stars Southwest team on Thursday night at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.

Four Utes scored in double figures, paced by 14 points from both Trace Caton and Nick Jacobson. Caton shot 5-of-10 from the field and hit 2-of-4 three-pointers. The junior from Alamosa, Colo., also pulled down a game-high eight rebounds in 32 minutes, starting at small forward. Travis Spivey had 12 points and two assists. Chris Burgess hit 5-of-7 shots from the field for 11 points to go with six rebounds.

Maurice Spillers, who played his college ball up the road in Logan for Utah State, led the All-Stars with 15 points and six rebounds in 26 minutes. Former Runnin' Ute Tony Harvey, who concluded his career in 1999-2000, scored six points in 18 minutes. It was the opening game of an 11-game tour for EA Sports.

The Utes led 36-33 at the half and stretched their advantage to 10 points (53-43) with 10 minutes to play. However, EA Sports wouldn't go away and got within 70-67 with 18 seconds left after a layup by H. Waldman. After Utah caused a turnover on the defensive end, Spivey got a driving layup to go down with seven seconds remaining to put Utah in front by the final margin.

Utah outrebounded EA Sports 36 to 28 and shot 80 percent from the free throw line. Indicative of an early season exhibition game, the Utes also committed 20 turnovers.

In the Polls

Utah was ranked tied for 37th in the ESPN/USA Today Preseason Poll released on Thursday. Other Mountain West Conference teams receiving votes were Wyoming (35th) and New Mexico (45th). Among teams on Utah's nonconference schedule, Texas was ranked 22nd, while Utah State received three votes to come in 48th and Arizona State had one vote to tie for 49th.

Goettsche and Jackson Possible Redshirts

Following the exhibition game with EA Sports, head coach Rick Majerus announced that freshman 6-7 forward Cameron Goettsche, who did not dress for the game, will sit out the season as a redshirt. Freshman 6-11 center Chris Jackson, the only scholarship player to dress that did not play against EA Sports, is also a redshirt candidate. Majerus said that he wants more time to evaluate Jackson and Utah's needs over the next few weeks before he makes a decision. He expects Jackson's status to become more clear before the first regular-season game against St. Francis (Ill.) on Nov. 16.

Who's Back

The Utes return a veteran team with five starters and four other lettermen back from last season. Utah went 19-12 overall, finished in a three-way tie for first place in the Mountain West Conference with a 10-4 mark and made it to the first round of the NIT in 2000-01.

The Utah roster features four seniors, all of whom figure to play significant roles this season. Chris Burgess (C/F, 6-10, 240) averaged 7.8 points and a team-best 5.9 rebounds per game in his first season on the court with the Utes after transferring from Duke. Burgess also had a team-high 33 blocked shots while starting 21 games and playing in 27. Phil Cullen (F/C, 6-9, 221) averaged 9.1 points, which was third-best on the team, and 4.4 boards per contest. Cullen led Utah in three-pointers made, hitting 54-of-143 (.378), while starting 26 games. Jeff Johnsen (G, 6-4, 204) was the fourth-highest scorer on the team (8.6 ppg) and averaged 3.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists despite starting only nine games. However, Johnsen did play in all 31 games and averaged 21.9 minutes. He also shot 40.4 percent from beyond the arc (23-of-57) and 75.6 percent at the free throw line. Travis Spivey (G, 6-1, 212), who transferred from Salt Lake Community College prior to last season, led the Utes in assists (3.5 apg) and averaged 5.2 points per game. Spivey averaged a team-best 24.8 minutes per game, playing in all 31 games and making 21 starts.

Two players who earned all-Mountain West Conference recognition last season are also back. Nick Jacobson (G/F, 6-4, 198) was named the league's freshman of the year, ranking third on the team in scoring (8.9 ppg), and shooting 43.8 percent from three-point range and 88.0 percent at the free throw line during league games. Overall, Jacobson averaged 7.9 points per game and shot a team-best 80.6 percent from the free throw line. Junior Britton Johnsen (F, 6-9, 213) was a second team all-league selection. Johnsen was second on the team in both scoring (9.9 ppg) and rebounding (5.5 rpg), starting 25 games. He also shot 42.6 percent from three-point range (20-of-47).

Utah's three other returnees are sophomore Lance Allred, and juniors Trace Caton and Cameron Koford. Allred (C/F, 6-10, 239) averaged 2.2 points and 1.8 rebounds in 17 games. Caton (G/F, 6-5, 214), who like Britton Johnsen returned from an LDS Church mission prior to last season, played an average of 9.6 minutes in 29 games. He averaged 2.2 points and hit 46.2 percent of his three-point attempts. Koford (C, 6-11, 230) averaged 2.2 points and 1.6 rebounds in 10 games last season. Koford, who transferred to Utah from Weber State after serving a two-year LDS Church mission, entered college as a partial qualifier. However, he is on track to earn his undergraduate degree before the fall of 2002 and earn back his fourth year of eligibility for next season.

Who's New

The Utes have added five newcomers to the roster, four of which are freshmen that will be available to play this season.

Cameron Goettsche (F, 6-7, 208), a native of Highlands Ranch, Colo, was an all-state selection as a senior. He averaged 18.4 points, 10.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game for Thunder Ridge High School in 2000-01. Chris Jackson (C, 6-11, 244) was named the 2000-01 Gatorade New Mexico Player of the Year and a top 100 finalist for the McDonald's All-America team. He averaged 20.0 points, 9.7 rebounds and 4.9 blocked shots per game for Los Alamos High School. Martin Osimani (G, 6-3, 203) was ranked 93rd on ESPN.com's list of Top 100 Recruits and 20th among point guards after playing the last two years at Champagnat High School in Hialeah, Fla. Originally from Montevideo, Uruguay, Osimani averaged 13.8 points, 10.8 assists and 8.2 rebounds per game as a senior. Eric Osmundson (G, 6-3, 196) from Carlsbad, Calif., was an all-state selection in 2000-01, posting 23.1 points, 8.0 assists and 6.0 rebounds per contest. Athlon's recently named Jackson, Osimani and Osmundson among its Top 100 College Freshmen.

Tim Frost (C, 6-10, 234), who played the last two years at Portland, joined the Utah program this past spring as a transfer. After sitting out this season per NCAA Division I transfer rules, he will have two years of eligibility remaining. In 2000-01, Frost was a first team all-West Coast Conference choice, as well as Portland's leading scorer (14.9 ppg), rebounder (7.0 rpg) and shot-blocker (1.9 bpg).

From the Training Room

Sophomore center/forward Lance Allred has been nursing a sore back. He injured it during the Utes' preparations for their European trip in May and has been working his way back to full strength over the summer. When the Utes have practiced twice a day, Allred has only participated in the early session as a precautionary measure. However, Allred is not expected to miss any games. He played four minutes against EA Sports on Thursday.

Quoting Majerus On Utah's win over EA Sports - "I thought that we played raggedy, but I thought that we played hard for the most part. We've just had six straight days of practice-really tough practices. We practiced (before the game) and went hard for two hours. I'm pleased with the effort. Spivey only had two turnovers. I thought he handled the pressure pretty well. Chris (Burgess) did some good things out there."

On determining his starting lineup and rotation - "I'll probably start with the same guys (Travis Spivey, Nick Jacobson, Trace Caton, Britton Johnsen and Chris Burgess) the next game. Phil (Cullen) and Jeff (Johnsen) are going to play. Osimani's going to back up at one, Koford's going to back up at five and Lance (Allred) will have minutes."

Coming Up

The Utes open the regular season with the first of three consecutive home games against St. Francis (Ill.) on Nov. 16 at 7:07 p.m. in the Jon M. Huntsman Center.

Ute Preseason Notes

Majerus' Mark

Rick Majerus is 262-73 (.782) in 12 years at Utah and 361-125 (.743) in 17 years as a head coach. He has averaged 22 wins per year at Utah-amazing in that he coached just one game last season and six games in his first season before undergoing heart surgery (he was 4-2 in 1989-90). In 10 full seasons at Utah, he has won 20-plus games nine times, missing out only in 1993-94 (14-14).

Prior to last season, Majerus had averaged 26 wins over the last 10 years. He has won eight conference championships-including six straight from 1996-2000 (the last being the inaugural Mountain West Conference title).

Majerus has taken the Utes to eight NCAA Tournaments-including six in a row before last season-and has never lost a first-round game. In that time, he has led Utah to the Sweet 16 four times, the Elite Eight twice and one Final Four. He also took Ball State to the NCAA Tourney back in 1989. Majerus' record in the NCAA Tournament at Utah is 16-8 (.667). His all-time mark in the "BIg Dance" is 17-9 (.654), which ranks 11-best among active coaches.

The Sheboygan, Wis, native has earned National Coach of the Year honors in three of his 12 seasons at Utah. He is also a seven-time District Coach of the Year and a five-time WAC Coach of the Year.

Majerus is the fifth-winningest active coach with a .743 winning percentage. Only Jerry Tarkanian (Fresno State), John Kreese (College of Charleston), Roy Williams (Kansas) and Jim Boeheim (Syracuse) have better winning percentages. He is also in the top 20 in all-time winning percentage, currently ranked 16th.

By notching his 350th career victory with a 56-49 win at Brigham Young on Jan. 15, 2000, Majerus become one of just nine coaches all-time to reach the 350 wins plateau in 16 seasons or less. Only four coaches in the history of college basketball have won 350 games in fewer seasons than Majerus. Nolan Richardson (Tulsa/Arkansas), Denny Crum (Louisville), Jim Boeheim (Syracuse) and John Thompson (Georgetown) reached the 350 career wins plateau in 15 seasons. Jerry Tarkanian (Long Beach State/UNLV), Billy Tubbs (Southwest Texas State/Lamar/Oklahoma), Bob Huggins (Walsh/Akron/Cincinnati) and Everett Case (North Carolina State) also posted their 350th career win during their 16th season.

Majerus became just the third coach at the U. to win 250 games with Utah's 70-55 win at San Diego State on Jan. 10, 2000. Vadal Peterson went 385-230 from 1927-53 and Jack Gardner, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame who passed away in the spring of 2000, went 339-154 from 1953-71.

Rick at His Best on the Rebound

If Rick Majerus is any where near as successful in coaching this year's team as he was the last time following a year away from basketball, then 2001-02 should be quite a season for the Utes. After missing all but the first six games of the 1989-90 season due to heart surgery, a reinvigorated Majerus led Utah to the most wins in school history with a 30-4 record in 1990-91. The Utes also won the WAC championship-the first league title of the Majerus era-with a 15-1 mark and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Night with the Runnin' Utes Recap

Utah fans got their first glimpse of the 2001-02 team at the its annual Night with the Runnin' Utes on Oct. 22 in the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Over 4,000 fans were in attendance to watch skills contests and a scrimmage, and to get autographs.

Junior Britton Johnsen got a big roar from the crowd with a couple of nifty jams-including a smooth 360-to win the slam dunk contest. The fans then had a chance to get involved with shooting and dribbling competitions. The players selected shooting partners from the stands for the three-point shootout. Tim Frost, a transfer from Portland who will sit out this season, chose his partner wisely. With a strong contribution from assistant coach Dick Hunsaker's 12-year old son Holton, Frost's duo won with 11 treys.

The Crimson team, consisting of the majority of the first team players and veterans, defeated the White team 42-25 in the scrimmage. The two teams were fairly even in the second 10-minute half, both scoring 14 points before the Crimson team made a strong run in the final two minutes.

A couple of Ute newcomers were impressive. Chris Jackson, a 6-11 center from Los Alamos, N.M, had a strong showing with nine points and seven rebounds to lead the White team. Martin Osimani, a 6-3 guard from Montevideo, Uruguay, who split time at point guard between the Crimson and White teams, had nine points, four boards and two assists.

Sophomore Nick Jacobson, the 2000-01 Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year, scored seven points and dished out four assists. Trace Caton and Britton Johnsen both had six points.

Seniors Chris Burgess, Phil Cullen and Jeff Johnsen missed all of the scrimmage and Travis Spivey missed part of it due to classes. Sophomore center/forward Lance Allred, who is nursing a tender back, also sat out.

Utes Tabbed Second in Mountain West Preseason Poll

The Mountain West Conference media selected Wyoming to win the 2002 title, claiming 25 of a possible 29 first-place votes. Utah was picked second, garnering four first-place votes, followed by New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV, BYU, Colorado State and Air Force.

Individually, Britton Johnsen was named to the preseason all-MWC team. He was joined by Marcus Bailey (G, Jr.) and Josh Davis (F, Sr.) of Wyoming, Ruben Douglas (G, Jr.) of New Mexico and Randy Holcomb (F, Sr.) from San Diego State. Davis was named the Top Returning Player.

Johnsen was a second team all-MWC selection last year after returning from a two-year LDS Church mission. He scored in double figures 14 times and ranked 13th in the conference in rebounding (5.4 rpg).

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