Utah Men's Basketball Notes - Game #12 - University of Utah Athletics

Dec. 28, 2003

Game #12

Utah Runnin' Utes (8-3) vs. Southern Utah Thunderbirds (4-5)

Dec. 29 * 7:05 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           Southern Utah Head Coach: Bill EvansAlma Mater: Marquette, 1970             Alma Mater: Southern Utah, 1972Record at Utah: 316-93 (15th Season)    Record at SUU: 164-161 (12th Season)Overall Record: 415-145 (20th Season)   Overall Record:164-161 (12th 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: Utah leads 5-1Utah's Record Home/Away/Neutral: 5-1/0-0/0-0Last Meeting: Utah won 61-47 on Nov. 22, 2002 in Salt Lake City.

After This

The Utes take on Weber State at the Dee Events Center on Saturday, Jan. 3 at 2:07 p.m. (MST). Utah then closes out its nonconference schedule with a pair of home games, beginning with Pepperdine on Monday, Jan. 5 at 10:00 p.m. (MST) on ESPN's "Big Monday" opening night.

Quickly On Utah

Utah (8-3) resumes its schedule after a six-day break for Christmas against Southern Utah (4-5) on Monday at 7:05 p.m. (MST) at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The game will be broadcast on KALL-700 AM and the Utah Sports Network.

The Utes are coming off a two-game winning streak, defeating Cal State Northridge (73-57) at home on Dec. 19 and Colorado (77-57) on the road on Dec. 23.

Senior guard Nick Jacobson (6-4, 206) leads the Utes in scoring (12.9 ppg), hitting 43.4 percent of his three-point attempts. Freshman forward Andrew Bogut (6-10, 233) is second on the team in scoring (12.1 ppg) and first in rebounding (10.8 rpg). The native of Melbourne, Australia, has had six double-doubles this season and is shooting 63.2 percent from the field. Sophomore forward Richard Chaney (6-4, 195) is third in scoring (11.0 ppg), shooting 52.6 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from three-point range. Sophomore guard Tim Drisdom (6-2, 212) leads the Utes in assists (3.6 apg). Senior forward Tim Frost (6-9, 244), who has had two double-doubles, is second in rebounding (4.5 rpg) and fourth in scoring (7.4 ppg).

Scouting Southern Utah

The Thunderbirds are 4-5 overall and 1-4 on the road this season. Southern Utah is coming off a 67-37 loss at Stanford on Dec. 22. Before then, the T-birds had won two in a row, defeating Montana Tech at home (78-41) on Dec. 18 and Long Beach State on the road (60-59) on Dec. 20.

Senior forward David Palmer (6-7, 210) leads SUU in scoring (13.9 ppg), shooting 51.4 percent from the field and 57.9 percent (22-of-38) from three-point range. Junior guard Jason Baker (6-2, 185) is the second-leading scorer (10.0 ppg), shooting a team-best 83.3 percent from the free throw line, and is the team's assists leader (3.0 apg). Junior forward DeAngelo Newsom (6-5, 220) is the team leader in rebounds (8.0 rpg) and steals (29), and is third in scoring (8.9 ppg).

Head Coach Bill Evans

Bill Evans took over the reins of the SUU program late in the 1991-92 season. In his 12th full season, he has led the T-Birds to three league titles and a 164-161 overall record. In 2000-01, Evans led the Thunderbirds to their first ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament, a share of the Mid-Continent Conference title in the regular season and the league's postseason championship. He was named the Mid-Continent Coach of the Year, NABC District 13 Coach of the Year and USBWA District 8 Coach of the Year in 2000-01. Evans is the winningest coach in SUU history.

Utah-SUU Series Notes

* Utah leads the all-time series with Southern Utah 5-1. All six games have been played in the Huntsman Center. The Utes won the first three games in the series and have also taken the last two.

* Last season, the Utes defeated the T-Birds 61-47 on Nov. 22 in the Huntsman Center.

* Utah's only loss in the series was 77-70 on Dec. 22, 2000. Dick Hunsaker was serving as the acting head coach while Rick Majerus was on a leave of absence.

* Rick Majerus is 5-0 all-time against Southern Utah with all of those games coming during his tenure at Utah.

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 (12.9 ppg), hitting 43.4 percent (23-of-53) from beyond the arc and 77.3 percent from the free throw line.

* Jacobson has already climbed into 21st place in career scoring at Utah with 1,215 points. He is one of just 30 players in the 1,000-point club and currently ranks behind Kelvin Upshaw (1,229 points).

* With his first three-pointer against Cal State Northridge on Dec. 19, Jacobson took over sole possession of the top mark for career threes made at Utah. He tied Keith Van Horn's mark of 206 three-point field goals against LSU-Jacobson took 103 games while Van Horn needed 122. Jacobson now has 211 career three-pointers. He is also second in three-pointers attempted (496) at Utah, closing in on Van Horn's top mark of 514. His career three point percentage of 42.2 entering this season ranked fourth all-time.

* Jacobson has scored in double-figures in 55 of the last 74 games dating back to the 2001-02 season, including 27 of the 33 games in 2002-03 and seven of 11 games this year.

* Jacobson has tallied at least 21 points in each of the of the last two games to bring his season total of 20-point games to three. He had a season-high 22 points against Cal State Northridge, hitting 8-of-16 shots from the field. The senior guard then had 21 points in Utah's 20-point win at Colorado. He shot 7-of-15 from the field, 3-of-7 from beyond the arc and 4-of-5 at the line. Jacobson also equaled career-best marks with six rebounds and three steals against the Buffaloes.

Boasting Of Bogut

Freshman forward Andrew Bogut (6-10, 233) is second on the team in scoring (12.1 ppg) and first in rebounding (10.8 rpg) while shooting 63.2 percent from the field in 30.2 minutes per contest. Bogut has eight double-figure scoring games and seven double-figure rebound games.

* In the NCAA statistical rankings released on Dec. 16, Bogut was 11th in field goal percentage (67.3) and 12th in rebounds per game (11.1).

* Bogut has had double-doubles in the last three games to bring his total to six for the season. During the last three games, he has averaged 13.7 points and 11.3 rebounds. He has also shot 70 percent (14-of-20) from the field. The last time out, Bogut finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds against Colorado. He had 17 points and 10 rebounds against Cal State Northridge. Against LSU, Bogut finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Game #11 Rewind

Nick Jacobson scored 21 points and freshman Andrew Bogut had 13 points and 13 rebounds, leading Utah to a 77-57 road win over Colorado last Tuesday night.

Tim Frost and Richard Chaney also had 13 points apiece for the Utes (8-3), who outscored Colorado 47-25 in the second half. Utah shot 60.0 percent in the second half compared to Colorado's 18.2 percent (4-of-22). The Utes also outrebounded the Buffaloes 43-23 for the game.

Colorado (6-2), which had its 15-game home winning streak snapped, was led by David Harrison with 18 points and Michel Morandais with 15.

Utah's 20-point win was its largest margin of victory on the road since winning by 30 points (81-51) at New Mexico on Jan. 21, 2002. It was also the largest margin of victory in a nonconference road game since defeating Loyola Marymount by 39 points (89-50) on Nov. 25, 1997.

Colorado built a 10-point lead in the first half before Utah trimmed it to two. The Buffaloes used a 17-4 run to open up a 23-13 lead with 7:21 left in the half. Morandais had nine points during the flurry, which he started with a three-pointer and ended with a pair of jumpers. Frost then hit three three-pointers, and Frost's jumper from the top of the key with 12 seconds left produced the 32-30 halftime score. Frost and Colorado's Lamar Harris each had 11 points in the half.

Trailing 32-30 at halftime, Utah used a 10-0 run early in the second half to forge a 44-34 lead. Chaney and Bryant Markson each had three-point plays, Bogut made a tip-in and Jacobson a 16-foot jumper to give Utah a lead it never relinquished.

Colorado cut the deficit to seven points on four occasions, the last time at 59-52 on Glean Eddy's 3-pointer with 7:50 left. But Utah, which has won five of its last six games, outscored Colorado 18-5 the rest of the way.

Jacobson had 12 of his points in the second half, including back-to-back three-pointers midway through the half.

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.

* In the NCAA statistical rankings released on Dec. 16, Utah led the nation in both scoring defense (46.9 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (33.9), and ranked 22nd in rebound margin (+4.6 rpg). Currently, opponents are averaging 53.0 points per game and shooting 39.0 percent against the Utes. Utah also has a +5.5 rebound margin.

* Utah has held seven of its 11 opponents to less than 40 percent shooting from the field. Only three teams have reached 60 points and three opponents have been held to under 40 points this season. Savannah State shot 18.2 percent against the Utes on Dec. 13, which is the lowest mark for a Utah opponent all-time. Only one team (UConn at 62.3 percent) has shot better than 50 percent from the field against the Utes this season.

* Utah has not allowed an opponent to score 80 points in 106 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.

From Beyond The Arc

Utah has connected on at least 40 percent of its three-point field goals in six games this season, winning all of them. Conversely, when the Utes shoot under 40 percent from beyond the arc, they are 2-3.

* The Utes shot a season-best 50.0 percent from three-point land (7-of-14) against both Colorado and Stony Brook.

Ute Items

* Utah has made significant progress at the free throw line. After shooting just 26.8 percent (11-of-41) from the stripe against Stony Brook, Texas Tech and UConn (getting losses in the later two games), Utah has shot 74.0 percent (97-of-131) in the last six games. The Utes shot a season-best 86.4 percent (19-of-22) from the line against Cal State Northridge.

* The Utes have finished off four close games in the final eight minutes for wins this season. Utah also trailed by 10 points in the first half and by two at the break before getting a 77-57 win at Colorado.

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. Most recently, Utah led Cal State Northridge 55-53 with 6:46 remaining before outscoring the Matadors 18-4 to close out the game.

* Turnovers have been a problem for the Utes, who are averaging 16.3 per game. Utah has had a positive assist/turnover ratio in just two of the 11 games this season. Utah averaged 18.0 turnovers during the first five games, including a season-high 21 against Georgia State in the opener. Since that opening stretch, Utah has improved slightly in that area with 14 turnovers in three of the last six games (Utah State, San Diego and LSU). The Utes also had a season-low 12 turnovers with a season-high 24 assists against Savannah State on Dec. 13.

Utes Tough At Home In The Huntsman Center

Utah is 201-18 (.918) 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 183-13 (.934) at home.

* The Utes have won 139 of their last 147 games in the Jon M. Huntsman Center, dating back to the 1993-94 season.

* More recently, Utah has won seven in a row (including a 6-0 record this season) and 23 of the last 24 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 21 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 432-89. 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 #12

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Andrew Bogut

Richard Chaney

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Bryant Markson

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Utah Men's Basketball Notes - Game #12

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