Utes Open Maui Invitational Monday Against No. 22 Gonzaga

Nov. 24, 2002

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Game #2

Utah Runnin' Utes (1-0) vs. Gonzaga Bulldogs (1-0)

EA Sports Maui Invitational - Hosted by Chaminade University

Nov. 25 * 6:30 p.m. (HST) * Lahaina Civic Center (2,400) * Lahaina, Hawaii

The Game at a Glance

Utah Head Coach: Rick Majerus       Gonzaga Head Coach: Mark FewAlma Mater: Marquette, 1970         Alma Mater: Oregon, 1987Record at Utah: 284-82/14th Season  Record at GU: 82-20/4th SeasonCareer Record: 383-134/19th Season  Career Record: 82-20/4th Season

Rankings: Utah (NR). Gonzaga (No. 22 AP, No. 22 ESPN/USA Today).

Television: ESPN2. Dave O'Brien (play-by-play) and Bill Raftery (analyst).
Radio: Utah Sports Network (KALL-910 AM in Salt Lake City and affiliate stations).On the Internet at www.UtahUtes.com and www.kall910.com.Bill Marcroft (play-by-play), Mark Rydalch (analyst) and Brad Stone (host).

Series Record: Utah leads 2-0Utah's Record Home/Away/Neutral: 1-0/1-0/0-0Last Meeting: Utah defeated Gonzaga 100-79 on Dec. 8, 1962 in Salt Lake City.

Quickly On Utah

The Utes (1-0) play Gonzaga (1-0), ranked No. 22 by both AP and ESPN/USA Today, in the first round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational on Monday at 6:30 p.m. (HST) on ESPN2. Utah opened its regular season with a 61-47 win over Southern Utah on Friday night in Salt Lake City. The Runnin' Utes split their pair of exhibition games, losing to EA Sports Southwest 92-86 on Nov. 1 and defeating EA Sports West 78-58 on Nov. 13.

Four lettermen return from last year's team that went 21-9 overall, placed second in the Mountain West Conference with a 10-4 record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Utah's roster also includes two transfers and and four freshmen.

Senior forward Britton Johnsen (6-10, 210) paced Utah with 14 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Southern Utah on Friday. He also led the team in scoring (20.0 ppg) and rebounding (17.0 rpg) during the exhibition season, shooting 69.6 percent from the field and 77.8 percent at the free throw line. Junior center Tim Frost (6-10, 236) followed up his exhibition season averages of 9.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game with 13 points and four boards against SUU. Freshman point guard Tim Drisdom (6-3, 203) contributed eight points and four assists against Southern Utah.

Scouting Gonzaga

The Bulldogs (1-0), ranked No. 22 by both AP and ESPN/USA Today, opened their season with a 69-61 win over Hofstra at The Kennel in Spokane, Wash., on Friday night.

Gonzaga returns three starters and four other lettermen from last year's team that went 29-4 overall, tied for first place in the WCC with a 13-1 mark and advanced to its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament. Senior 6-8 forward Zack Gourde, an all-WCC center last season, averaged 13.2 points and 6.4 rebounds last season. Junior 6-8 center Cory Violette, named one of the 50 preseason candidates for the Wooden Award, averaged 12.8 points and 8.3 boards per game in 2001-02.

In the win over Hofstra, Violette led the Zags with 17 points, shooting 5-of-8 from the field and 7-of-10 from the free throw line, and eight rebounds. Sophomore 6-9 forward Ronny Turiaf also had 17 points. Junior 6-4 guard Blake Stepp contributed a game-high seven assists with just one turnover and 10 points in 38 minutes. Gonzaga was outrebounded 41 to 38 and shot just 25.0 percent (5-for-20) from three-point range. However, the Bulldogs forced 18 turnovers and held Hofstra to 37.9 percent shooting from the field.

Head Coach Mark Few

Mark Few is in his fourth season at Gonzaga, taking the Zags to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2000 and 2001, and the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2002. Entering this season, he was the winningest coach in NCAA history for third-year head coaches, going 81-20. He has also led the Bulldogs to two West Coast Conference championships. Few was a 10-year assistant coach at Gonzaga before taking over after Dan Monson's departure for the head coaching position at Minnesota.

Utah-Gonzaga Series Notes

* Utah and Gonzaga meet for the third time on Monday. It will be the first time the teams have met on a neutral court.

* In the first game of the series, the Utes defeated the Zags, 50-29, on Dec. 23, 1938 in Spokane, Wash.

* The last time the two teams met, Utah defeated Gonzaga, 100-79, on Dec. 8, 1962 in Salt Lake City.

* Gonzaga is the first of four West Coast Conference teams this Utes will face this season. Utah also plays Pepperdine on Dec. 20, San Diego on Dec. 23 and Saint Mary's on Jan. 6.

* Utah is 47-15 all-time against West Coast Conference teams, including a 6-6 record on neutral courts.

* Rick Majerus is 0-1 against Gonzaga all-time but has never faced GU during his 14-year tenure at Utah.

Maui Invitational First Round Schedule

Game #1 - Chaminade vs. Virginia        9:00 a.m. (HST) ESPNGame #2 - Massachusetts vs. Indiana    12:00 p.m. (HST) ESPN2Game #3 - Arizona State vs. Kentucky    4:00 p.m. (HST) ESPNGame #4 - Utah vs. Gonzaga              6:30 p.m. (HST) ESPN2

Maui Invitational Notes

* This year marks the 19th edition of the EA Sports Maui Invitational, hosted by Chaminade University. The tournament was first played with four teams-Chaminade, Davidson, Providence and Virginia-on Thanksgiving Weekend 1984. The tournament went to the current eight-team format in 1986.

* Fans wishing to take advantage of the tournaments' real-time webcast for all games can log on to the official tournament web site at www.mauiinvitational.com. It is the first college basketball tournament to provide this service.

* The Lahaina Civic Center has been known to get quite steamy during the tournament, particularly during day games when outside temperatures reach into the mid-80s and the 2,400-seat arena is full. This year for the first time, the Civic Center has been equipped with air conditioning. The county of Maui and the State of Hawaii has recently expended $1,750,000 in building improvements.

Utah's Maui Invitational History

The Runnin' Utes will be making their third appearance in nine years in the Maui Invitational. Utah also played in Maui in 1994 and 1998, posting a combined 3-3 record. This is the fourth time in the last five years and fifth time overall that Utah has competed in an early-season tournament during the Rick Majerus era. The Utes have gone 6-5 in those tournaments.

Experimental Rules In Effect In Maui

The NCAA Basketball Rules Committee often uses certified basketball contests, such as the Maui Invitational, for rules experimentations. Three experimental rules will be utilized this year in Maui.

* The three-point line (the arc) will be moved nine inches farther back from the center ring of the basket, to create a new experimental three-point distance of 20 feet, 6 inches.

* Repeating an experimental rule from the previous season, the free-throw lane will be widened by two feet on each side, creating a wider experimental three-second and free-throw lane.

* The large free-throw lane block (located eight feet from the end-line on each side of the lane) is reinstated. This experimental block will again be a true neutral zone, meaning neither team may step on the neutral block prior to the free-throw shooter's release.

Second Round Series Notes

* Indiana leads the all-time series with Utah 2-1 with all three games taking place on a neutral court. The Utes and Hoosiers last met in the 2002 NCAA Tournament. Indiana defeated Utah 75-56 on March 14 in Sacramento, Calif., in the South Region first round. Utah and Indiana have met in the Maui Classic twice before. Utah defeated Indiana (77-72) in the first round in the 1994 tournament on Nov. 21, while the Hoosiers returned the favor in the second in 1998 (52-49) on Nov. 24. Rick Majerus is 1-3 against Indiana all-time and 1-2 during his tenure at Utah.

* Utah and Massachusetts have never met. Rick Majerus has never faced Massachusetts.

Game #1 Rewind

Utah's inside tandem of Britton Johnsen and Tim Frost helped Utah wear down Southern Utah in the second half for a 61-47 season-opening win on Friday night at the Huntsman Center.

Johnsen finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds while Frost contributed 13 points-all but two in the final 21 minutes. Nick Jacobson finished with 11 points despite 4-for-13 shooting. Freshman point guard Tim Drisdom had eight points and four assists in 25 minutes. He committed three of Utah's 12 turnovers, but didn't have one in the entire second half.

The Utes trailed 13-5 in the opening minutes, missing 11 of their first 13 three-point attempts against SUU's zone. Utah rebounded to take a 23-19 lead at halftime.

After the Thunderbirds scored the first bucket of the second half, Utah locked down defensively, holding SUU without a field goal for the next 10 minutes. Then leading 37-24, the Utes buried six straight shots-and seven of the next eight-to build their biggest lead, 55-34 with 5:39 remaining.

Notable Numbers From Game #1

* Utah improved to 82-13 all-time in season openers and 13-1 under Rick Majerus. Utah has won seven season openers in a row, all coming in the Huntsman Center.

* Britton Johnsen had his sixth double-double in the last 17 games, dating back to last season. Johnsen has also led Utah in rebounds in 15 of the last 21 games.

* Utah tied the second-best mark for blocked shots in a game with nine against Southern Utah. The Utes have now had nine blocked shots in four games.

* The Utes held Southern Utah to 34.7 percent shooting. Last season, the U. held nine opponents under 40 percent from the field.

* Utah's four freshmen (Richard Chaney, Tim Drisdom, Chris Jackson and Bryant Markson) accounted for 72 of the team's 200 minutes played in the game. They also contributed 15 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.

Rick's Remarks

On the win over SUU -- "I thought we tried pretty hard defensively. I thought our effort was good. We didn't shoot the ball-that's O.K., that's going to happen-we took too many perimeter shots and we took a couple of bad shots, but I don't know if they were selfish shots. After a while we got the zone to come out on us. We tried to go inside early. I'm glad we're not going in [to the Maui Invitational] without a game."

On playing Gonzaga -- "I know they're good, probably a top 10 team. I know they have a lot of depth and a lot of experience. We recruited (Blake) Stepp, who is a great shooter and a heck of a player. He's a coach's son out of Oregon and he's terrific."

From the Training Room

* Sophomore guard Marc Jackson sprained his right ankle on Nov. 17 and could be out 1-2 weeks. His availability for the Maui Invitational in questionable.

* Freshman guard/forward Bryant Markson had his right knee scoped on Oct. 24. Initially expected to be out at least four weeks, Markson was cleared to practice on Nov. 5 and played in the second exhibition game on Nov. 13.

Majerus Third Among Active Coaches in Winning Percentage

Rick Majerus is 284-82 (.776) in his 14th season at Utah and 383-134 (.741) in 19 years as a head coach. Entering the season, he had the third-best winning percentage among active coaches in NCAA Division I. Only Roy Williams (Kansas) and Bob Huggins (Cincinnati) had better winning percentages. He was also in the top 20 in all-time winning percentage, ranked 16th.

Majerus has averaged 22 wins per year at Utah-amazing in that he coached just one game in 2000-01 and six games in his first season before undergoing heart surgery (he was 4-2 in 1989-90). In 11 full seasons at Utah, he has won 20-plus games 10 times, missing out only in 1993-94 (14-14). Minus the two partial seasons he missed, Majerus has averaged 25 wins per season.

During the Majerus era, the Utes have won nine conference championships-including seven straight from 1995-2001. Majerus has taken the Utes to nine NCAA Tournaments-including the last seven years he was on the bench the entire season-and has lost in the first round only once. 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 16-9 (.640). His all-time mark in the "Big Dance" is 17-10 (.630).

Great Britton: Senior Forward Up For Wooden Award

Senior forward Britton Johnsen (6-10, 210) has been named to the Wooden Award Preseason All-America Team. Johnsen is one of 50 players in the nation considered early candidates for John R. Wooden Award, presented annually to college basketball's player of the year.

Johnsen was named Mountain West Conference Player of the Year and USBWA District 8 Player of the Year, and made the NABC/Pontiac All-District 13 first team. Johnsen was second on the team in scoring (12.6 ppg) and first in rebounding (6.3 rpg), ranking 13th and eighth in the Mountain West Conference in those categories, respectively. He also ranked 12th in field goal percentage (49.6) and 15th in three-point percentage (35.6) in the MWC.

* Dating back to the 2000-01 season, Johnsen has scored in double figures in 39 of the last 56 contests-including 24 of the 30 games last season and the first game this season.

* The Murray, Utah, native led the Utes in rebounding 14 of the final 20 games last season after starting center Chris Burgess was injured against Texas on Dec. 29. During that stretch, Johnsen averaged 7.4 rebounds per game.

* In Mountain West Conference games, Johnsen led the team in scoring (15.3 ppg), rebounding (8.1 rpg) and field goal percentage (55.7). Johnsen also shot 40.4 percent from beyond the arc.

* Johnsen had three consecutive double-doubles Feb. 18-28. Over that stretch, he shot 53.3 percent from the field and 50.0 from three-point range while averaging 16.3 points and 12.7 rebounds per game. He recorded his fifth and final double-double of the season with 11 points and a career-best 14 rebounds against Colorado State on Feb. 28. Johnsen shot 4-of-8 from the field and 2-of-4 from three-point range. Against Brigham Young on Feb. 23, he had 15 points and 13 rebounds. Against New Mexico on Feb. 18, he scored 23 points-his third highest total of the season-and brought down 11 rebounds. He shot 3-of-5 from three-point range to go with five assists in 31 minutes. Johnsen also made the winning free throw with 7.6 seconds left in the 66-65 win over the Lobos.

Jacobson Stroking "J"s

Junior guard Nick Jacobson (6-4, 200) was named third team all-Mountain West and second team NABC/Pontiac All-District 13 in 2001-02. Jacobson led the team in scoring (13.0 ppg) and three-point percentage (44.4). He scored in double figures in 21 of the 30 games last season.

* In the final NCAA statistical rankings, Jacobson was 23rd in three-point percentage (44.4).

* Jacobson set the Utah single-season mark with 71 three-pointers made last season, bettering the mark of 68 by Phil Dixon in 1991-92. He also ranked third in three-point attempts (160).

* Jacobson has already climbed into sixth place in career three-pointers made (111) and seventh in three-pointers attempted (267) at Utah. His career three-point percentage of 42.0 entering this season would have ranked fourth all-time at Utah. Jacobson hit 3-of-10 three-pointers in the season opener against Southern Utah.

* In a three-game stretch against UNLV (Jan. 12), San Diego State (Jan. 14) and Air Force (Jan. 19), last season, the Fargo, N.D., native made 16-of-24 (66.7) from beyond the arc. Jacobson put up a career-high 26 points against UNLV. He had 25 points against San Diego State, tying the school record with seven three-pointers (in 10 attempts) and hitting 9-of-14 from the field.

* In 2000-01, Jacobson was named the Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year, becoming the first Ute to garner the award since Keith Van Horn in 1993-94. Jacobson made the top 10 in five statistical categories on the all-time freshman charts at Utah. He ranked eighth in scoring (245 points), eighth in scoring average (7.9 ppg), second in three-pointers made (37), first in three-pointers attempted (97) and first in free throw percentage (.806).

Tough Nonconference Slate Ahead

The Utes could face as many as four teams ranked in the ESPN/USA Today preseason poll before January. Utah's first-round opponent in the Maui Invitational, Gonzaga, is ranked No. 22 in the coaches poll. In the second round, the Utes could meet the team that ended their season a year ago in the NCAA Tournament, No. 21 Indiana. The Hoosiers face Massachusetts in the first round. On the other side of the eight-team bracket in Maui is Kentucky, ranked No. 17 in the ESPN/USA Today preseason poll. Virginia, ranked 27th, is also on the other side of the bracket. Utah could face either of those teams, along with Arizona State or Chaminade, in the third round.

Another ranked team on Utah's nonconference schedule is Alabama, ranked No. 8 by ESPN/USA Today in the preseason. Utah State and Pepperdine, which Utah faces on Dec. 17 and 20, respectively, were listed among teams receiving votes.

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