Utah Men's Basketball Notes - Game #21 - University of Utah Athletics

Jan. 29, 2004

Game #21

Utah Runnin' Utes (15-5, 3-2) vs. Brigham Young Cougars (12-6, 2-3 MWC)

Jan. 31 * 1:05 p.m. (MST) * Jon M. Huntsman Center (15,000) * Salt Lake City

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The Game At A Glance

Acting Utah Head Coach: Kerry Rupp    BYU Head Coach: Steve ClevelandAlma Mater: Southern Utah, 1977         Alma Mater: UC Irvine, 1976Record at Utah: 0-0 (1st Season)    Record at BYU: 120-84 (7th Season)Overall Record: 0-0 (1st Season)    Overall Record: 120-84 (7th Season)
Television: ESPN Regional (KJZZ-TV 14 in Salt Lake City). ESPN Full Court.Rich Waltz (play-by-play) and Irv Brown (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 118-116Utah's Record Home/Away/Neutral: 69-46/46-64/3-6Last Meeting: Utah won 71-64 on Feb. 24, 2003 in Salt Lake City.

After This

The Utes play two games in the Huntsman Center next weekend. Utah takes on San Diego State on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 3:07 p.m. (MST) and UNLV on Monday, Feb. 9 at 7:07 p.m.

Quickly On Utah

Utah (15-5, 3-2 MWC) opens a three-game homestand against Brigham Young (12-6, 2-3 MWC) on Saturday at 1:05 p.m. (MST) in the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The game will be televised by ESPN Regional (KJZZ-TV 14 in Salt Lake City) and broadcast on KALL-700 AM and the Utah Sports Network. The Utes are 11-0 at home this season.

After winning nine in a row, including their first three Mountain West Conference games, the Utes dropped two games on the road last weekend. Utah lost at New Mexico (70-54) on Saturday and at Air Force (62-49) on Monday.

Senior guard Nick Jacobson (6-4, 206) leads the Utes in scoring (15.4 ppg), hitting 45.8 percent of his three-point attempts. Freshman forward Andrew Bogut (6-10, 233) is second on the team in scoring (11.6 ppg), and is first in both rebounding (9.9 rpg) and blocked shots (19). The native of Melbourne, Australia, has nine double-doubles this season and is shooting 62.9 percent from the field. Sophomore forward Richard Chaney (6-4, 195) is third in scoring (11.2 ppg), shooting 52.1 percent from the field and 46.3 percent from three-point range. Sophomore guard Tim Drisdom (6-2, 212) leads the Utes in assists (3.5 apg).

Majerus Announces End Of Career At Utah

Rick Majerus, who directed the Utes to a 15-5 start this season, is away from the team after experiencing chest pains Tuesday evening. Although he may return later in the season if his condition improves, Majerus has announced that he will leave his position as head coach permanently at the end of the season. Majerus has been under his cardiologist's care in Santa Barbara. Ute assistant Kerry Rupp will coach the team in Majerus' absence.

Majerus has a 323-95 record in 15 seasons at Utah and a 422-147 career record in 20 seasons as a head coach. He has never had a losing season and has averaged 21 wins a year over the course of his career. Under Majerus, the Utes have made 10 trips to the NCAA Tournament and 12 total appearances in postseason play. In 1998, the Utes played in the NCAA Final Four, losing to Kentucky in the national championship game. The Utes have advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 four times under Majerus and made back-to-back Elite Eight appearances in 1997 and 1998.

Majerus' health problems have caused him to take extended leaves of absence two other seasons since he started coaching at Utah back in 1989. He coached just six games in his inaugural season due to heart bypass surgery in December of 1989. He coached one game in the 2000-01 season before taking a personal leave of absence to deal with his own health issues and to care for his ailing mother.

Last Time Under An Acting Head Coach

Dick Hunsaker was Utah's acting head coach for all but the first game of the 2000-01 season. After Rick Majerus guided the Utes to an opening night win over Idaho State, Hunsaker, now the second-year head coach at Utah Valley State, directed the Utes the rest of the way. Utah finished the season 19-12, tied for the Mountain West Conference regular-season championship with a 10-4 record, and played in the first round of the NIT.

Scouting Brigham Young

The Cougars are 12-6 overall and in fifth place in the Mountain West Conference with a 2-3 record. BYU is 2-6 on opponents' homecourts this season.

Last weekend the Cougars lost two games on the road, falling to Air Force (74-52) on Saturday and New Mexico (65-63) on Monday. All three of BYU's league losses have been on the road, including its MWC opener at San Diego State (65-61) on Jan. 12.

Senior center Rafael Araujo (6-11, 280) is one of four players in the Mountain West averaging a double-double, ranking first in the conference in scoring (19.8 ppg) and fourth in rebounds (10.4 rpg). He also ranks sixth in the league in blocked shots (19), 15th in steals (20) and 12th in free throw percentage (73.0). Senior forward/guard Mark Bigelow (6-7, 195) ranks 10th in the MWC scoring (12.7 ppg) and fifth in free throw percentage (79.2), and is second on the team in rebounding (4.2 rpg). Junior guard Mike Hall (6-3, 205) is third on the team in scoring (12.1 ppg). Senior guard Luiz Lemes (6-3, 180) ranks fourth in the league in assists (4.4 apg), third in assist/turnover ratio (1.90) and seventh in three-point percentage (43.5).

Comparing the Stats

           Utah    BYUScoring         64.2    74.0Scoring Defense 55.2    64.5FG%         .487    .490FG% Defense .404    .4493-Pt. FG%   .404    .3663-Pt. FG% Def.  .285    .340FT%         .690    .719Rebound Margin  +7.5    +6.6Assists         13.2    15.4Turnovers   14.8    14,5Opp. Turnovers  11.5    14.7Steals          4.9 6.4Blocked Shots   3.0 3.4

Cougar Head Coach Steve Cleveland

Steve Cleveland is in his seventh season at BYU and has a 120-84 career record. Last season, Cleveland guided BYU to a 23-9 overall record, the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and a share of the MWC regular-season title with an 11-3 mark.

After two losing campaigns, he guided the Cougars to back-to-back 20-win seasons in 1999-2000 (22-11) and 2000-01 (24-9). In 2000-01 with a 24-9 overall record and a 10-4 mark in MWC play, Cleveland took BYU to its first NCAA Tournament since 1995, its first conference regular season title since 1993 and its first conference tournament championship since 1992. Cleveland has taken BYU to the NIT in 2000 (third round) and 2002 (second round).

Before taking over at BYU, Cleveland was the head coach at Fresno City College.

Utah-BYU Series Notes

* Utah and BYU meet for the 235th time on Saturday. The Utah vs. BYU series ranks 10th among NCAA Division I rivalries in number of games played.

* The Cougars are the Utes' oldest rivals in a series that dates back to a 32-9 win by BYU on Jan. 23, 1909 in Provo, Utah.

* The Utes lead the all-time series 118-116 and have won 16 of the last 19 meetings. Utah swept the season series in 2002-03, getting a 79-75 win on Jan. 25 in Provo, Utah, and a 71-64 win on Feb. 24 in Salt Lake City.

* In conference regular season play, Utah has a 115-110 edge.

* In Salt Lake City, the Utes have a 69-46 advantage and have won nine in a row. Their last loss to BYU at home was 64-62 on Jan. 8, 1994.

Last Meeting

Nick Jacobson scored a season-high 23 points and Tim Frost had 21 as No. 22 Utah beat Brigham Young 71-64 in the Huntsman Center last year on Feb. 24, sweeping the season series between the state rivals for the first time in three years. The Utes won their ninth straight game and increased their lead in the conference over the Cougars to two games with just four games to go in the regular season.

Utah committed 20 turnovers, but made up for it at the free throw line, where the Utes were 23-for-25 and sealed the win by making their last eight attempts.

Travis Hansen and Rafael Araujo both scored 13 to lead BYU. Mark Bigelow finished with 12 points for the Cougars, who couldn't get closer than three points after falling behind by 13 early in the second half.

The game heated up quickly after halftime when Jacobson went down hard in the lane after getting fouled. Araujo was called for an intentional foul and Jacobson made both free throws to put the Utes up 35-28. Then Frost got open below the basket and was fouled while dunking it. He made the free throw and Utah led by 10.

The Utes extended the lead to 13, but the Cougars never let it get too far out of hand. BYU's Kevin Woodberry made a three-pointer to start a 9-2 run that got BYU to 51-47 midway through the half and the Cougars kept within range until the end.

Woodberry hit another trey that cut the lead to 63-59, then made a steal at midcourt and went 1-for-2 from the line after getting fouled to get the Cougars to 63-60. But that was as close as it got.

Mark Jackson, Britton Johnsen, Frost and Jacobson all were perfect from the line after the Cougars were forced to foul. Johnsen, who played just four minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, finished with nine points after being shut out in the first half. Jackson, who went 13-for-13 in Utah's 79-74 win at BYU on Jan. 25, was 6-for-6 from the line.

Utah outrebounded the Cougars 31-27 and had four blocked shots. The Utes also connected on 8-of-18 three-pointers (44.4 percent), led by Jacobson's 4-for-7 effort.

The Old Oquirrh Bucket

Saturday's game continues Utah's bid to win the Old Oquirrh Bucket trophy for 2003-04. The Old Oquirrh Bucket, named after the Oquirrh Mountains to the west of Salt Lake City, is the symbol of in-state basketball supremacy in Utah. The trophy is awarded every year to the in-state college team (Utah, BYU, Southern Utah, Utah State and Weber State) which has the best win-loss record against in-state competition.

So far this season Utah is 3-0, BYU is 2-1, Utah State is 2-1, Weber State is 1-3 and Southern Utah is 0-3. Utah has won the Old Oquirrh Bucket 12 times since its inception in 1974-75, including last season. The Utes also claimed the trophy six years in a row from 1994-95 through 1999-2000.

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 Utes in scoring (15.4 ppg), hitting 45.8 percent (49-of-107) from beyond the arc and 81.4 percent from the free throw line.

* He has scored in double figures in all five Mountain West Conference games this season, averaging 18.4 points per game in league play.

* Jacobson has scored at least 20 points in six of the last 11 games-including four consecutive games Dec. 19 through Jan. 3. He has also been in double figures 10 of the last 11 contests, shooting 48.6 percent from the field and 45.6 percent (31-for-68) from three-point range to average 18.9 points per game during that stretch. He had a career-high 28 points against Weber State on Jan. 3, hitting 8-of-12 field goals, 5-of-7 threes and 7-of-7 free throws in 39 minutes. He has had seven 20-point games this season.

* Jacobson has already climbed into 18th place in career scoring at Utah with 1,380 points. He is one of just 30 players in the 1,000-point club and currently ranks behind Jerry Chambers (1,400 points).

* A prolific shooter from long range, Jacobson ranks first at Utah in both career three-pointers made (237) and attempted (550), passing Keith Van Horn for the top spot in both categories this season. His career three point percentage of 43.1 ranks second all-time.

Boasting Of Bogut

Freshman forward Andrew Bogut (6-10, 233) is second on the team in scoring (11.6 ppg) and is first in both rebounding (9.9 rpg) and blocked shots (19). He is shooting 62.9 percent from the field.

* Bogut has nine double-doubles this season-including two in conference play-breaking the Mountain West freshman record set by Tom Bellairs of Air Force in 1999-2000. His most recent double dip came with 13 points and 17 rebounds in a career-high tying 35 minutes against New Mexico last Saturday. His 17 rebounds tied the 14th-best single-game mark in school history. Bogut also had 18 rebounds against Minnesota earlier this season.

* Against Wyoming on Jan. 17, Bogut had a career-best 20 points (8-of-13 FG, 4-of-12 FT) and 16 rebounds. He also had a career-best five blocked shots against the Cowboys.

* Bogut has 13 double-figure scoring games and 10 double-figure rebound games. He has scored in double-figures nine of the last 13 games.

* In the NCAA statistical rankings released on Jan. 27, Bogut was 18th in rebounds per game (9.9).

Frost Playing Through Back Injury In Final Season

Senior center Tim Frost (6-9, 244) established himself as a strong interior presence in his first season with the Utes, earning second team all-Mountain West honors in 2002-03. Frost has been dealing with a sore back since the start of fall training, missing the first month of practice and the first game against Georgia State on Nov. 17. He has missed four games in all due to the injury, but has started the last five games.

* Currently, Frost is fourth on the team in scoring average (7.9 ppg) and third in rebounding average (3.9 rpg).

* Frost has scored in double figures in six of the last 11 games he's played. He led the Utes with 13 points (5-8 FG, 1-2 3-FG, 2-2 FT) in a season-high 31 minutes against Air Force on Monday.

* In Mountain West Conference games, Frost is averaging 9.0 points and 2.6 rebounds per game in 26.0 minutes. He is also shooting 71.4 percent at the free throw line.

Game #20 Rewind

A.J. Kuhle scored 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting Monday to lead Air Force to a 62-49 home win over Utah, keeping the Falcons atop the Mountain West Conference.

Air Force (14-2, 4-0 MWC) won its 12th consecutive game, while Utah (15-5, 3-2 MWC) lost its second straight conference contest. The Falcons won the battle between the nation's top two scoring defenses, forcing 20 turnovers while committing only nine. Tim Frost led the Utes with 13 points, hitting 5-of-8 shots from the field and 1-of-2 three-pointers.

After trailing 29-24 at the half, Utah rallied to a 40-38 lead with 10:05 to play on a three-pointer by Richard Chaney. A layup by Tim Keller, who scored 16 points, gave the Falcons the lead back for good with 8:13 left.

Two free throws by Chaney pulled the Utes to within three (49-46) with 4:22 left, but a layup by Joel Gerlach on the following possession put Air Force up 51-46. After going 0-for-3 from the field in the first half, Gerhach responded with six points at critical points in the second half.

The Utes outshot the Falcons, 55.3 percent to 51.4 percent, but the Air Force defense prevailed. The Falcons held Utah's Nick Jacobson to 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting.

Utes Suffer Rare Back-To-Back Losses

Before losing the last two games to New Mexico and Air Force on the road, the Utes had lost consecutive games just three other times since the start of the 1994-95 season with Rick Majerus on the bench. The Runnin' Utes lost consecutive games only 12 times under Majerus' direction.

* Utah's last back-to-back losses came during the 2001-02 season to Utah State (78-65) at home on Nov. 23 and at Alabama (76-61) on Nov. 26.

* In 1999-2000, the Utes dropped back-to-back Mountain West Conference games on the road against Colorado State (60-49) on Feb. 26 and against Wyoming (88-61) on Feb. 28.

* In the 1994 Maui Classic on Nov. 22 against Maryland (90-78) and Nov. 23 against Michigan (73-69).

* Under Dick Hunsaker as the acting head coach during the 2000-01 season, Utah lost three consecutive games in both nonconference (Dec. 2-9) and MWC (Jan. 20-29) play. That was the last time Utah dropped three consecutive games overall.

Getting Defensive

One of the trademarks of a Utah team during the Rick Majerus era has been 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 Jan. 27, Utah ranked third nation in scoring defense (55.2 ppg), 49th in field goal percentage defense (40.4) and 14th in rebound margin (+7.5 rpg).

* The Utes have outrebounded 18 of 20 opponents this season.

* Utah has held 10 of its 20 opponents to less than 40 percent shooting from the field. Only eight teams have reached 60 points and nine opponents have been held to under 50 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 three teams have shot better than 50 percent from the field against the Utes this season: UConn (62.3), New Mexico on Jan. 24 (53.5) and Air Force (55.3).

* Utah has not allowed an opponent to score 80 points in 115 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 while only three teams shot 50 percent or better against the Utes.

From Beyond The Arc

Utah has connected on at least 40 percent of its three-point field goals in 13 games this season-including eight of the last 10-winning all of but one of them (Air Force on Jan. 26). Conversely, when the Utes shoot under 40 percent from beyond the arc, they are 3-4. Over the last 10 games, Utah has shot 44.0 percent (74-for-168) from beyond the arc.

* In the NCAA statistical rankings released on Jan. 27, Utah ranked 13th in three-point field goal percentage (40.4).

* The Utes have hit at least half of their three-point tries five times this season: Southern Utah (57.9) with a season-best percentage, UNLV on Jan. 12 (53.8), Pepperdine (51.9) with a season-high 27 attempts, Colorado (50.0) and Stony Brook (50.0).

* Utah made nine three-pointers in the first 20 minutes against Pepperdine, one off the school record for a half. The Utes also had 14 three-pointers in the game, which tied the second-best mark in school history achieved six other times.

* The Utes had made a three-pointer in 152 consecutive games before going 0-for-8 against Georgia State in a 46-38 win on Nov. 17. The last time Utah didn't make a three before then was during an 0-for-12 outing at Long Beach State on Dec. 5, 1998. Since then, Utah has made a three-pointer in each of the last 19 games.

Ute Items

* Utah ranked 18th in the NCAA in field goal percentage (48.7) as of Jan. 27. Utah had shot 50.2 percent from the field over the last 11 games and 44.0 percent from three-point range over the last 10 games.

* The Utes are 12-0 when scoring at least 60 points this season and 12-0 when holding their opponents to under 60 points.

* 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 74.9 percent (203-of-271) in the last 15 games. The Utes shot a season-best 97.1 percent (11-of-12) in games with over 10 attempts from the line against Whitworth and hit 7-of-7 against Air Force on Jan. 26. Utah is currently shooting 69.0 percent at the line this season.

Utes Tough At Home In The Huntsman Center

Utah is 206-18 (.920) in the Huntsman Center during the Rick Majerus era and has never lost back-to-back home games.

* The Utes have won 144 of their last 152 games in the Jon M. Huntsman Center, dating back to the 1993-94 season.

* More recently, Utah has won 12 in a row (including a 11-0 record this season) and 28 of the last 29 at home. Its last loss in the JMHC was to Colorado State on March 6, 2003, which ended a 16-game home winning streak.

* In conference home games over the last 10 years, Utah is 67-3 (.957), which is the best record in the nation over that time span.

* Utah has won 24 consecutive nonconference games in the Huntsman Center, last falling to Utah State (78-65) on Nov. 23, 2001.

* 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 436-89.

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