Utah Men's Basketball Notes - Game #7 - University of Utah Athletics

Dec. 4, 2003

Game #7

Utah Runnin' Utes (4-2) vs. San Diego Toreros (1-5)

Dec. 6 * 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           San Diego Head Coach: Brad HollandAlma Mater: Marquette, 1970             Alma Mater: UCLA, 1979Record at Utah: 312-92 (15th Season)    Record at San Diego: 145-116 (10th Season)Overall Record: 412-144 (20th Season)   Overall Record: 168-147 (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 2-1Utah Home/Away/Neutral: 1-1/1-0/0-0Last Meeting: Utah won 64-58 on Dec. 23, 2002 in San Diego, Calif.

After This

After a week off for semester exams, the Utes return to action on Saturday, Dec. 13 against Savannah State at 12:07 p.m. (MST) in the Huntsman Center. Utah then travels to Baton Rouge, La., to take on LSU on Dec. 16 at 8:00 p.m. (CST) on ESPN.

Quickly On Utah

Utah (4-2) continues a three-game homestand against San Diego (1-5) on Saturday at 7:07 p.m. (MST) in the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The Utes are 3-0 at home this season. The game will be broadcast on KALL-700 AM and the Utah Sports Network.

After dropping back-to-back games to Texas Tech and Connecticut in the Preseason NIT final four last week in New York, Utah rebounded with a 56-45 win over Utah State on Wednesday night in Salt Lake City. The Utes opened the season with a three-consecutive wins.

Sophomore forward Richard Chaney (6-4, 195) leads the Utes in scoring (12.0 ppg), shooting 62.0 percent from the field and 46.2 percent from three-point range, and is second in rebounds (3.7 rpg). Freshman forward Andrew Bogut (6-10, 233) leads the Utes in rebounding (12.5 rpg) and is second in scoring (11.5 ppg). The native of Melbourne, Australia, has had three double-doubles this season. Senior guard Nick Jacobson (6-4, 206) is the third Ute averaging double figures in scoring (10.7 ppg), hitting 43.5 percent of his three-point attempts. Freshman forward Justin Hawkins (6-4, 207) is second in rebounding (3.7 rpg). Sophomore guard Tim Drisdom (6-2, 212) leads the Utes in assists (2.7 apg).

Scouting San Diego

The Toreros are 1-5 overall and 0-1 on the road this season. After opening the season with four consecutive losses, USD notched a 68-65 win over SMU at home on Nov. 28. The Toreros lost their inner-city battle to San Diego State, 66-63, on Wednesday night at Jenny Craig Pavilion.

Junior forward Cory Belser (6-7, 215), the only returning starter from last year's 18-12 team, is out for the season after injuring his right knee in USD's second exhibition game on Nov. 7. Five other lettermen are back from the the 2002-03 season. Junior forward/center Brice Vounang (6-8, 250), a transfer from Eastern Oklahoma State Junior College, leads the Toreros in scoring (18.5 ppg) and is second in rebounding (7.5 rpg). Junior guard Brett Melton (6-5, 192), a transfer from Illinois, is averaging 11.5 points a game while shooting 38.6 percent from three-point range (17-of-44). Sophomore forward/center Nick Lewis (6-10, 235) is the third player averaging double figures in scoring (11.0 ppg) and leads the Toreros in rebounds (7.8 rpg).

Head Coach Brad Holland

Brad Holland is 145-116 in his 10th season at San Diego and 168-147 in his 12th year as a head coach. Holland guided USD to 88 victories over the past five seasons. He led the Toreros to an 18-12 record last season and a second-place finish in the West Coast Conference at 10-4. San Diego won the league tournament and made its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 16 years. In 1998-99 and 1999-2000, Holland was named the WCC Coach of the Year, going 18-9 and 20-9, respectively.

Holland played collegiately at UCLA 1975-79 and was part of four Pac-10 championship teams. He was drafted by the L.A. Lakers in 1979 and later returned to UCLA as an assistant coach under Jim Harrick 1988-92. He was the head coach at Cal State Fullerton for two seasons (1992-94).

Utah vs. San Diego Series Notes

* The Utes and Toreros meet for the fourth time on Saturday. Utah leads the all-time series 2-1.

* Two of the previous three games have been played in Salt Lake City. San Diego won the first contest against the Utes, 60-57, on Nov. 28, 1986. Utah won the last meeting in the Huntsman Center, 75-57, on Jan. 2, 1989.

* Utah won last season's game 64-58 on Dec. 23 in San Diego, Calif.

* Rick Majerus is 1-0 against San Diego, facing the Toreros for the first time last year.

* San Diego is the first of three West Coast Conference teams the Utes will face this season. The Utes also take on Cal State Northridge (Dec. 19) and Pepperdine (Jan. 5) later this season in Salt Lake City.

* Utah is 50-17 all-time against West Coast Conference teams and took three of four games last year.

Last Meeting

Tim Frost scored three key baskets and Utah was nearly perfect from the free throw line down the stretch in a 64-58 road win over San Diego last season on Dec. 23. Frost hit consecutive three-pointers and added a three-point play with 6:45 left to give the Utes their only double-digit lead of the game, 53-42.

Utah never allowed the Toreros to get any closer than four points after that, hitting 14-of-15 free throws in the second half and 11-of-12 over the final five minutes. The Utes hit 88.2 percent effort at the line for the game.

San Diego was hurt by poor free throw shooting, primarily from center Jason Keep, who was 10-of-22. Utah fouled the 6-10 Keep nearly every time he touched the ball in the second half when he was 9-for-17 at the line. He finished with 24 points.

Frost led the Utes with 13 points, and Nick Jacobson and Cameron Koford each scored 12.

Roy Morris scored 14 points and Jason Blair had 13 for the Toreros.

Boasting Of Bogut Freshman forward Andrew Bogut (6-10, 233) is second on the team in scoring (11.5 ppg) and first in rebounding (12.5 rpg) while shooting 56.6 percent from the field in 32.7 minutes per contest.

* Against Utah State on Wednesday, Bogut had his third double-double with 12 points (5-for-10 FG, 2-for-4 FT) and 16 rebounds in 33 minutes. He also led the Utes with a season-high tying five assists. He was in double figures in points for the fourth time and rebounds for the fourth time.

* Bogut was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week on Nov. 24 after leading the Utes in both scoring and rebounding with double-doubles in their first two games. Bogut had 15 points, hitting 7-of-10 field goals and 1-of-4 free throws, and contributed 16 rebounds against Georgia State. In the Minnesota game he had 19 points, going 8-of-9 from the field, 1-of-1 from beyond the arc and 2-of-4 at the free throw line. Bogut also had 18 rebounds, which tied the 12th-best single-game mark in school history.

* Bogut and two-time All-American Keith Van Horn in 1993-94 are the only Ute freshmen to have double-doubles in their first two games.

* The Melbourne native led Australia to the 2003 FIBA Junior World Championships in Greece in July, earning tournament MVP honors.

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 10.7 points per game, hitting 43.5 percent (10-of-23) from beyond the arc and 8-of-12 free throws. He was named to the Preseason NIT all-tournament team.

* Jacobson has already climbed into 25th place in career scoring at Utah with 1,137 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 (198)-just eight away from tying Keith Van Horn's top mark of 206-and second in three-pointers attempted (469) at Utah. His career three point percentage of 42.2 entering this season ranked fourth all-time.

* Jacobson has scored in double-figures in 52 of the last 69 games dating back to the 2001-02 season, including 27 of the 33 games in 2002-03 and four of six games this year. Jacobson had a season-high 19 points against Connecticut, hitting 7-of-12 shots from the field and 4-of-5 three-pointers. His 12 points paced the Utes against Utah State.

* 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 Texas Tech. The Sandy, Utah, native had season-highs of 10 points and 27 minutes played. He also had two assists (three turnovers), hitting hit all four shots from the field, his only three-point attempt and his only free throw. Olsen played 26 minutes against UConn, getting a team-best four assists (two turnovers) and two points.

* Freshman forward Justin Hawkins (6-4, 207) tied a season-high with nine points and was one off his top mark with four rebounds in 19 minutes against Utah State. He shot 3-of-6 from the field, 1-of-2 from beyond the arc and hit both free throws.

Ute Items

* Turnovers have been a problem for the Utes so far this year. Before getting a season-low 14 turnovers against Utah State, Utah averaged of 18.0 over the first five games. 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 15 against Connecticut.

* After shooting 72.2 percent from the free throw line in their first two games, the Utes made just 11-of-41 free throws (26.8 percent) over the next 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 faired better from the stripe versus Utah State, hitting 8-of-13 (61.5 percent).

* 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. With a much better defensive effort, allowing just 45 points and 36.7 percent shooting from the field, the Utes got a win Wednesday against Utah State.

* Utah has not allowed an opponent to score 80 points in 101 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.

Utes Tough At Home In The Huntsman Center

Utah is 198-18 (.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 180-13 (.933) at home. Utah went 15-1 at home in 2002-03 and is 3-0 this season.

* The Utes have won 137 of their last 145 games in the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Before their loss to Colorado State on March 6, 2003, Utah had won 16 consecutive home games, which was tied for the ninth-longest streak in the nation.

* 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 #7

Game #7

Players Mentioned

Andrew Bogut

Richard Chaney

Tim Drisdom

Justin Hawkins

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Utah Men's Basketball Notes - Game #7

Game #7

Players Mentioned

Andrew Bogut

Richard Chaney

Tim Drisdom

Justin Hawkins

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