Utah Men's Basketball Notes - Game #6 - University of Utah Athletics

Dec. 1, 2003

Game #6

Utah Runnin' Utes (3-2) vs. Utah State Aggies (3-0)

Dec. 3 * 7:07 p.m. (MST) * Jon M. Huntsman Center (15,000) * Salt Lake City

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The Game At A Glance

Utah Head Coach: Rick Majerus           Utah State Head Coach: Stew MorrillAlma Mater: Marquette, 1970             Alma Mater: Gonzaga, 1974Record at Utah: 311-92 (15th Season)    Record at Utah State: 121-42 (6th Season)Overall Record: 410-144 (20th Season)   Overall Record: 339-180 (18th Season)
Television: KJZZ-TV 14 in Salt Lake City. Steve Brown (play-by-play) and Mark Eaton (analyst).
Radio: Utah Sports Network (KALL-700 AM in Salt Lake City and affiliate stations).On the Internet at www.UtahUtes.com and www.kall700.com.Bill Marcroft (play-by-play), Mark Rydalch (analyst) and Brad Stone (host).
Series Record: Utah leads 126-89Utah's Record Home/Away/Neutral: 76-33/50-56/0-0Last Meeting: Utah State won 59-54 on Dec. 17, 2002 in Logan, Utah.

After This

Utah continues a three-game homestand against San Diego on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. (MST). After a week off for semester exams, the Utes return to action on Saturday, Dec. 13 against Savannah State at 12:05 p.m. (MST) in the Huntsman Center.

Quickly On Utah

Utah (3-2) returns home to host Utah State (3-0) in the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Wednesday at 7:07 p.m. (MST). The Utes are 2-0 at home this season. The game will be televised by KJZZ-TV 14 and broadcast on KALL-700 AM and the Utah Sports Network.

After starting the season 3-0, the the Runnin' Utes dropped two games in the Preseason NIT final four last week in New York. Utah suffered its first loss of the season to Texas Tech, 65-54, on Wednesday in the semifinals and fell to No. 1 ranked Connecticut, 76-44, on Friday in the third-place game.

Sophomore forward Richard Chaney (6-4, 195) leads the Utes in scoring (12.4 ppg), shooting 61.4 percent from the field and 4-of-10 from three-point range, and is second in rebounds (3.6 rpg). Freshman forward Andrew Bogut (6-10, 233) leads the Utes in rebounding (11.8 rpg) and is second in scoring (11.4 ppg). The native of Melbourne, Australia, has two double-doubles this season. Senior guard Nick Jacobson (6-4, 206) is the third Ute averaging double figures in scoring (10.4 ppg). Freshman forward Justin Hawkins (6-4, 207) is second in rebounding (3.6 rpg). Sophomore guard Tim Drisdom (6-2, 212) leads the Utes in assists (3.0 apg).

Scouting Utah State

The Aggies are 3-0 following an 89-84 win over Illinois State on Saturday night in Logan, Utah. Utah State opened the season with an 86-54 win over Fort Lewis College at home on Nov. 21 and then picked-up a 66-60 victory against Weber State in Ogden, Utah, on Nov. 25.

Junior forward Spencer Nelson (6-8, 225) leads the Aggies in both scoring (14.0 ppg) and rebounding (6.7 rpg). He is also shooting 90 percent at the free throw line and 69.6 percent from the floor. Senior guard Mark Brown (5-10, 150) is second in scoring (13.0 ppg) and paces USU in assists (6.3 apg). Sophomore forward Nate Harris (6-7, 225) is third in scoring (11.0 ppg), shooting 72.2 percent from the field, and second in rebounds (6.0 rpg). Senior guard/forward Cardell Butler (6-4, 195) is the fourth Aggie averaging over 10 points a game (10.7 ppg).

Head Coach Stew Morrill

Stew Morrill is in his sixth season at the helm of the Utah State basketball program. He has led the Aggies to 20-wins each of the last four years. Morrill directed the Aggies to a 24-9 record last season and a third-place finish in the Big West. The Aggies won the Big West Tournament title, moving on to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four years. He led the Aggies to their first NCAA Tournament win in 31 years in 2001 as USU defeated Ohio State 77-68 in the first round. In his six years at USU, Morrill has a 121-42 record. His career mark is 339-180 in 18 seasons.

Prior to coming to Utah State, Morrill was the head coach at Colorado State for seven seasons, recording a 121-86 record (1992-98). Prior to his stint at CSU, Morrill spent five seasons as the head coach at Montana (1987-91), where he went 97-52. He has been involved in postseason action six times.

Utah vs. Utah State Series Notes

* Utah and Utah State meet for the 216th time on Wednesday night. Utah leads the all-time series 126-89.

* Utah State has won three in a row over Utah and has taken four of the last five games. Before then, the Utes had won five in row.

* Utah has a 76-33 advantage in games played in Salt Lake City. Before the Aggies won during their last visit to the Huntsman Center (78-65) on Nov. 23, 2001, Utah had won five in a row at home over USU. The Utes last defeated Utah State in the Huntsman Center (77-42) on Dec. 7, 1999.

* Last season, Utah State beat Utah 59-54 on Dec. 17 at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. It was Utah State's third consecutive win over the Utes in Logan.

* Utah has a 168-94 (.641) all-time record against the Big West Conference.

* Rick Majerus is 10-5 against Utah State all-time with all of those games coming during his tenure at Utah.

Last Meeting

Despite a 7-0 run by the Utes with less than five minutes left in the game, Utah State managed to hold off the Utes 59-54 for its third straight win in the series last season on Dec. 17 in Logan, Utah. Nick Jacobson was 8-for-10 from the floor and scored 21 to lead Utah. Britton Johnsen added 12 points and Tim Frost scored nine and had seven rebounds for the Utes, who led 11-2 to open the game.

Mark Brown scored 15 points and Desmond Penigar added 13 points and seven rebounds. The Aggies were 20-for-43 from the floor and snapped a two game losing streak while ending their state rival's three-game winning streak.

The Aggies went a span of seven minutes without a field goal, but Ronnie Ross sparked the offense with back-to-back three-pointers that started a run of 13 unanswered points. A field goal by Penigar tied the game 14, and the Aggies never trailed again. Utah State led 31-22 at halftime.

Jacobson was the only Utah player to score in the last 13 minutes in the first half and his three-pointer was the only points Utah would tally in the last five minutes.

Utah shot 50 percent from the field, hit 7-of-17 three-pointers (41.2 percent) and outrebounded USU 28 to 25.

Jacobson Stroking "J"s

Senior guard Nick Jacobson (6-4, 206) has been a third team all-Mountain West selection the last two seasons. Through five games this year, he is averaging 10.4 points per game, hitting 45.0 percent (9-of-20) from beyond the arc and 5-of-8 free throws. He was named to the Preseason NIT all-tournament team.

* Jacobson has already climbed into 26th place in career scoring at Utah with 1,125 points. He is one of just 30 players in the 1,000-point club. Jacobson is also in second place in career three-pointers made (197)-just nine away from tying Keith Van Horn's top mark of 206-and second in three-pointers attempted (466) at Utah. His career three point percentage of 42.2 entering this season ranked fourth all-time.

* Jacobson has scored in double-figures in 51 of the last 68 games dating back to the 2001-02 season, including 27 of the 33 games in 2002-03. He has been in double figures in three of the five games this season. Jacobson had a season-high 19 points against Connecticut, hitting 7-of-12 shots from the field and 4-of-5 three-pointers. He also had 13 points against Minnesota and 11 versus Stony Brook.

* Last season, Jacobson set the Utah records for three-pointers made (80) and attempted (189). In 2001-02, Jacobson made 71 threes to rank second on the Ute single-season charts and attempted 160, which is fourth-best all-time. His 44.4 three-point shooting percentage in 2001-02 is the sixth-best in a season at the U.

Game #5 Rewind

After falling to Georgia Tech two nights earlier, preseason No. 1 Connecticut looked more like the team everyone expected to see last Friday, getting a 76-44 win over Utah in the third-place game of the Preseason NIT at Madison Square Garden.

Nick Jacobson hit four three-pointers in the second half and led Utah with 19 points. Andrew Bogut had 10 points and a game-high seven rebounds.

UConn ran off 13 straight points in the game's opening minutes. Emeka Okafor, shrugged off a back injury to get nine points in 7? minutes, matching his total in the Georgia Tech game. Okafor scored 15 points in the first half, missing just one of eight shots. He finished with 21 points and seven rebounds. Denham Brown added 19, hitting all eight shots.

The Utes managed just three field goals in the first 14? minutes and were in a 37-13 hole at halftime. They continued to struggle from the foul line. After going 3-for-14 in their loss to Texas Tech, the Utes were 6-for-21 against Connecticut.

Utah was outshot 62.3 to 35.4 percent from the field and had a 38-24 deficit on the boards.

Ute Items

* Utah's 32-point loss to Connecticut (76-44) was the largest margin of defeat for a Rick Majerus team. During Majerus' 15-year tenure, Utah has lost by 30 points or more three times and 20 points or more only eight times. Its previous worst margin of defeat under Majerus was 31 points, twice; last happening against Kentucky in the 1996 NCAA Sweet 16.

* Utah, losing to both Texas Tech and UConn, had back-to-back losses for the first time since the end of the 2001-02 season. The Utes fell to UNLV on March 8 in the MWC Tournament semifinals and to Indiana on March 14 in the first round of the NCAAs.

* Utah has not lost three consecutive games since Dec. 2-9, 2000 when Dick Hunsaker was the acting head coach. The Utes haven't lost three straight games with Rick Majerus on the sideline since Jan. 20-27, 1994 when they fell to Hawaii and San Diego State on the road and Colorado State at home.

* Turnovers have been a problem for the Utes so far this year with an average of 18.0 per game. Utah's 21 turnovers against Georgia State in the opener is a season-high. The Utes also had 20 turnovers against Minnesota, 16 against Stony Brook, 18 against Texas Tech and 16 against Connecticut.

* Utah has struggled from the free throw line the last three games. After shooting 72.2 percent in their first two games, the Utes have made just 11-of-41 free throws (26.8 percent) over the last three contests. Utah had its worst effort from the free throw line this season against Texas Tech, shooting just 21.4 percent (3-of-14).

* The Utes have finished off three close games for wins this season. In the opener against Georgia State, Utah was down 31-26 with 9:36 remaining before coming back to win 46-38. Against Minnesota, the Utes led by just 49-45 with 7:33 to play before pulling away for a 66-54 win. Stony Brook had a 44-39 lead on the Utes with 5:28 left before Utah went on a 12-4 run to close it out, winning 51-48.

* Utah plays seven of its final 10 nonconference games at home. One of its road games is against Weber State in Ogden, Utah.

Getting Defensive

One of the trademarks of a Utah team during the Rick Majerus era is a stifling half-court defense. Since 1989-90, Utah has ranked in the top 30 in the nation 11 times in scoring defense, nine times in rebound margin, eight times in field goal percentage defense and eight times in scoring margin.

* Utah held its first three opponents to under 40 percent shooting from the field, with Georgia State shooting 30.6 percent, Minnesota 33.3 percent and Stony Brook 39.0 percent. All three teams were also held under 55 points. In the Preseason NIT final four in New York, the Utes allowed Texas Tech to shoot 49.1 percent from the field in a 65-54 loss in the semifinals while UConn connected on 62.3 percent of its shots in a 76-44 loss in the third-place game.

* Utah has not allowed an opponent to score 80 points in 100 consecutive games that have ended in regulation. The last team to score 80 points on the Utes in a 40-minute game was Wyoming (88) on Feb. 28, 2000 in Laramie, Wyo.

* Last season, Utah ranked 14th in the NCAA in scoring defense, giving up 60.3 points per game. The Utes held 18 teams under 60 points last season and five teams under 50 points.

* Fourteen opponents shot under 40 percent from the field in 2002-03. The only team to defeat Utah when shooting under 40 percent was New Mexico on March 1 when the Lobos shot 38.1 percent; however, the Lobos made 40-of-53 free throws. Only three teams shot 50 percent or better against the Utes.

It's Not How You Start...

Utah may be off to a 3-2 start this season; however, dropping a few games early hasn't been cause for concern for the Utes in recent years. In each of its last five seasons, Utah has overcome meager beginnings to finish-up in fine fashion.

Season Start   Following Steak    Final Record Conf. Finish    Postseason1998-99 5-4 23 consecutive wins 28-5    1st             NCAA 2nd Round1999-00 2-2 9 consecutive wins  23-9    1st-T           NCAA 2nd Round2000-01 7-6 Won 11 of next 14   19-12   1st-T           NIT 1st Round2001-02 3-3 13 consecutive wins 21-9    2nd             NCAA 1st Round2002-03 5-3 Won 16 of next 17   25-8    1st-T           NCAA 2nd Round

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Utah Men's Basketball Notes - Game #6

Game #6

Players Mentioned

Andrew Bogut

Richard Chaney

Tim Drisdom

Justin Hawkins

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Utah Men's Basketball Notes - Game #6

Game #6

Players Mentioned

Andrew Bogut

Richard Chaney

Tim Drisdom

Justin Hawkins

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