Utah Men's Basketball Notes - Game #8 - University of Utah Athletics

Dec. 10, 2003

Game #8

Utah Runnin' Utes (5-2) vs. Savannah State Tigers (1-5)

Dec. 12 * 12:05 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           Savannah St. Head Coach: Edward Daniels, Jr.Alma Mater: Marquette, 1970             Alma Mater: Marquette, 1974Record at Utah: 313-92 (15th Season)    Record at Savannah St.: 4-29 (2nd Season)Overall Record: 412-144 (20th Season)   Overall Record: 4-29 (2nd Season)
Television: None.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: First Meeting

After This

Utah heads to Baton Rouge, La., to take on LSU on Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 8:00 p.m. (CST) on ESPN. The Utes then return home to host Cal State Northridge on Friday, Dec. 19 at 7:05 p.m. (MST).

Quickly On Utah

Utah (5-2) concludes a three-game homestand against Savannah State (0-5) on Saturday at 12:05 p.m. (MST) in the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The Utes are 4-0 at home this season. The game will be broadcast on KALL-700 AM and the Utah Sports Network.

The Utes returned home last week and bounced back from a two-game losing streak with a pair of wins. Utah defeated Utah State, 56-45, on Wednesday and blew past San Diego, 82-39, on Saturday.

Senior guard Nick Jacobson (6-4, 206) leads the Utes in scoring (12.1 ppg), hitting 47.1 percent of his three-point attempts. Sophomore forward Richard Chaney (6-4, 195) is second in scoring (11.1 ppg), shooting 59.6 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from three-point range, and second in rebounds (3.6 rpg). Freshman forward Andrew Bogut (6-10, 233) leads the Utes in rebounding (11.9 rpg) and is third in scoring (10.7 ppg). The native of Melbourne, Australia, has had three double-doubles this season. Sophomore guard Tim Drisdom (6-2, 212) leads the Utes in assists (2.8 apg).

Scouting Savannah State Savannah State is an NCAA Division I independent with an enrollment of 2,800 located in Savannah, Ga. The Tigers are 1-5 overall and 0-2 on the road this season. After dropping its first five games, Savannah State picked up its first win of the season on Tuesday night over Eastern Kentucky, 63-62. The Tigers lost to Marquette on Nov. 21 (37-15), Arkansas-Monticello on Nov. 22 (86-67), Saint Louis on Nov. 24 (73-33), Georgia Southern on Nov. 28 (86-66) and Jacksonville on Dec. 6 (86-74).

Sophomore guard Jamal Daniels (6-4, 200) leads the team in scoring (16.2 ppg), rebounding (6.2 rpg) and steals (11). Junior guard Donald Carson (6-5, 220) is second in both scoring (6.5 ppg) and rebounding (4.3 rpg). Senior guard Chris Daniel (6-1, 180) leads Savannah State in assists (3.0 apg).

Head Coach Edward Daniels, Jr.

Edward Daniels, Jr. is 4-29 in his second season at Savannah State and as a head coach. He graduated from Marquette in 1974, playing for head coach Al McGuire and Rick Majerus, who was an assistant coach under McGuire beginning in 1971-72.

Jacobson Stroking "J"s

Senior guard Nick Jacobson (6-4, 206) has been a third team all-Mountain West selection the last two seasons. This season, he leads the team in scoring (12.1 ppg), hitting 47.1 percent (16-of-34) from beyond the arc and 9-of-13 free throws. He was named to the Preseason NIT all-tournament team.

* Jacobson has already climbed into 22nd place in career scoring at Utah with 1,158 points. He is one of just 30 players in the 1,000-point club and currently ranks behind Greg Deane (1,212 points). Jacobson is also in second place in career three-pointers made (204)-just two away from tying Keith Van Horn's top mark of 206-and second in three-pointers attempted (480) at Utah. His career three point percentage of 42.2 entering this season ranked fourth all-time.

* Jacobson has scored in double-figures in 53 of the last 70 games dating back to the 2001-02 season, including 27 of the 33 games in 2002-03 and five of seven games this year. Jacobson had a season-high 21 points against San Diego. He shot 6-of-11 from three-point range against the Toreros to tie the second-best mark for threes made and equal the third-best mark for attempts in school history.

* 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.

Take Note Of These Utes

* Freshman guard Josh Olsen (6-0, 182) had his best performance to date against San Diego. The Sandy, Utah, native had season-highs of 11 points and four assists (just one turnover) in 28 minutes played. He shot 4-of-7 from the field and 3-of-4 from three-point range.

* Freshman forward Justin Hawkins (6-4, 207) had a season-high 11 points in 25 minutes against San Diego. Hawkins had a perfect shooting night, hitting all three field goals, his only thee-point attempt and all four free throws. He also had three rebounds and three steals.

Game #7 Rewind

Nick Jacobson outscored San Diego by himself in the first half with all of his game-high 21 points as Utah went on to an 82-39 victory over the Toreros last Saturday at the Huntsman Center.

The Utes (5-2) led the Toreros by as much as 45 points and San Diego (1-6) shot only 30-percent from the field, making as many field goals as they did free throws with 12 of each.

Tim Frost had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Justin Hawkins and Josh Olsen scored 11 points each.

For the Toreros, who scored 20 in the first half and just 19 in the second, the lone bright spot was Nick Lewis' 12 points. Lewis was the only player on his team to hit double figures in scoring.

The game was never in question, as the Utes took control early in the first half with a barrage of three-pointers. Utah was 8-for-19 behind the arc in the first and half and San Diego never had a chance to comeback.

Brice Vounang, who averaged 18.5 points entering the game, scored six on 2-for-8 shooting.

Unlike the first half, where the Utes built a 24-point lead with three-pointers, Utah extended the lead by dominating inside in the second half. Utah only hit two three-pointers and raised their overall field goal percentage for the game to 57 percent, which was their best shooting night of the year. The Utes also had season-highs of 82 points and 17 assists.

The Utes' stout defensive effort held San Diego to 30.0 percent shooting from the field, produced eight steals and resulted in a 38-19 advantage on the boards.

Utah's 43-point win was its largest since defeating Concordia (Calif.) by 51 (88-37) on Dec. 26, 2000.

Ute Items

* Turnovers have been a problem for the Utes so far this year, but they are improving in that area. Utah averaged of 18.0 over the first five games. Utah's 21 turnovers against Georgia State in the opener was a season-high. The Utes have had a season-low 14 turnovers against both Utah State and San Diego in the last two games. Utah had just three turnovers in the first half versus USD to build a 24-point halftime lead and posted a positive assist/turnover ratio for the first time this season with a season-high 17 assists.

* After shooting just 26.8 percent (11-of-41) from the free throw line against Stony Brook, Texas Tech and UConn (getting losses in the two later games), Utah has shot 66.7 percent (24-of-36) the last two games against Utah State and San Diego. The Utes shot 72.2 percent from the free throw line in their first two games of the season.

* 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.

* 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. That year, 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.

* The Utes had made a three-pointer in 152 consecutive games before going 0-for-8 against Georgia State on Nov. 17. The last time Utah didn't make a three was during an 0-for-12 outing at Long Beach State on Dec. 5, 1998.

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.

* Only one team (UConn at 62.3 percent) has shot better than 50 percent from the field against the Utes this season. Utah has held five of its seven opponents to under 40 percent from the field and two teams to less than 40 points. San Diego shot just 30.0 percent against the Utes on Saturday, which is the lowest mark by a Ute opponent this season.

* Utah has not allowed an opponent to score 80 points in 102 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.

Utes Tough At Home In The Huntsman Center

Utah is 199-18 (.917) in the Huntsman Center during the Rick Majerus era and has never lost back-to-back home games. With Majerus on the bench, taking out the games he missed during the 1989-90 and 2000-01 seasons, the Utes are 181-13 (.933) at home.

* The Utes have won 137 of their last 145 games in the Jon M. Huntsman Center, dating back to the 1993-94 season.

* More recently, Utah has won five in a row (including a 4-0 record this season) and 21 of the last 22 at home. Its last loss in the JMHC was to Colorado State on March 6, 2003, which ended a 16-game home winning streak.

* Utah has won 19 consecutive nonconference games in the Huntsman Center, last falling to Utah State (78-65) on Nov. 23, 2001.

* In conference home games over the last nine years, Utah is 65-3 (.956), which is the best record in the nation over that time span.

* Utah has gone unbeaten seven times in the 34-year history of the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Six of those undefeated home seasons have come under Majerus: 1990-91 (16-0), 1992-93 (15-0), 1994-95 (15-0), 1997-98 (13-0), 1998-99 (14-0) and 1999-2000 (17-0).

* The Utes' all-time record in the Huntsman Center is 430-89. Utah got its 425th win in the history of the facility on Feb. 17, 2003 with an 86-80 overtime win against UNLV.

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Utah Men's Basketball Notes - Game #8

Game #8

Players Mentioned

Andrew Bogut

Richard Chaney

Tim Drisdom

Justin Hawkins

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Utah Men's Basketball Notes - Game #8

Game #8

Players Mentioned

Andrew Bogut

Richard Chaney

Tim Drisdom

Justin Hawkins

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