Utah Men's Basketball Notes - San Juan Shootout

Dec. 18, 2006

FIRST ROUND GAME
UTAH RUNNIN' UTES VS. CENTRAL FLORIDA KNIGHTS
Tuesday, December 19, 2006 ? 3:00 p.m. (AST)/12:00 p.m. (MST)
Mario Morales Coliseum ? Guaynabo, Puerto Rico

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

UTAH (4-5)Head Coach: Ray GiacolettiAlma Mater: Minot State, 1985At Utah: 47-26 (3rd Season)Career: 164-109 (10th Season)
CENTRAL FLORIDA (6-1)Head Coach: Kirk SperawAlma Mater: Iowa, 1980At UCF: 215-179 (14th Season)Career: 297-200 (17th Season)
MEDIA COVERAGETelevision: NoneRadio: Sports Radio 700 The Zone  Bill Riley (play-by-play), Joe Cravens (analyst), Scott Gerrard (host)Internet Audio: www.UtahUtes.com
THE SERIESOverall: First Meeting

QUICKLY ON UTAH
The Runnin' Utes (4-5) play three games in three days in the Puerto Rico Shootout at Mario Morales Coliseum in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. Utah opens the tournament against Central Florida (6-1) on Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. (AST)/12:00 p.m. (MST). The Utes will face either Virginia or Appalachian State in the second round on Wednesday. The championship bracket game will take place at 5:00 p.m. (AST)/2:00 p.m. (MST), while the consolation bracket game will be played at 1:00 p.m. (AST)/10:00 a.m. (MST). The third round games will be played on Thursday. All of Utah's games will be broadcast on Sports Radio 700 The Zone.

Utah followed up back-to-back road losses with its most decisive win of the season last Saturday. After falling 60-57 at Utah State on Dec. 6 and 85-84 in overtime at Rhode Island on Dec. 9, the Runnin' Utes defeated Cal Poly, 77-58, in Salt Lake City. It was the Runnin' Utes' fourth consecutive win at home.

Sophomore center Luke Nevill (7-1, 265) is the Utes' leading scorer (18.9 ppg) and rebounder (8.7 rpg). He is shooting 69.1 percent from the field, and has 17 assists and a team-best nine blocked shots. Junior guard Johnnie Bryant (6-0, 180) is second on the team in scoring (15.7 ppg) and has connected on 45.3 percent (29-for-64) of his 3-point attempts. Bryant is also second on the team in assists (2.7 apg). Sophomore forward Shaun Green (6-8, 208) is third on the team in scoring (13.4 ppg), first in assists (2.8 apg) and second in rebounding (6.6 rpg). He is shooting 65.6 percent from the field and 68.3 percent (28-for-41) from 3-point range. Green also leads the Utes in steals (14) and is second in blocked shots (5).

In the NCAA statistical rankings released on Dec. 11, Utah ranked fourth in 3-point percentage (45.6), 11th in field goal percentage (51.5), 63rd in 3-pointers made per game (7.75) and 82nd in free throw percentage (71.6). Green ranked first in the nation in three-point percentage (64.9) and Nevill was fourth in field goal percentage (70.2).

RUNNIN' UTE NOTABLES
? Four of Utah's five losses have come by a combined eight points.

? The Utes have shot at least 50 percent from 3-point range six times and at least 50 percent from the field six times in nine games this season.

? Utah is 0-3 this season when opponents shoot at least 50 percent from the field and 2-5 when they shoot at least 40 percent from 3-point range.

UTES HEADED TO PUERTO RICO
The 2006 San Juan Shootout field also includes Appalachian State, Central Florida, Northwestern, Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, Tennessee Tech, Vanderbilt and Virginia.

This is the second time Utah has competed in a tournament in San Juan. The Utes placed third in the Puerto Rico Shootout Nov. 23-25, 2000. Utah defeated American University-Puerto Rico (94-37) in the first round, lost to Georgia in the second round (65-60), and defeated Memphis (61-58) in the third-place game. Dick Hunsaker coached the Utes in that tournament, serving as the acting head coach in place of Rick Majerus.

This will be the eighth time in the last 13 years Utah has played in a regular season tournament. Utah has also played in the Great Alaska Shootout (2004), Maui Invitational (1994, 1998, 2002), and the Preseason NIT (1999, 2003). Ray Giacoletti coached the Utes in the Great Alaska Shootout during his first season at the U.

SCOUTING CENTRAL FLORIDA
The Golden Knights are 6-1 overall and 0-1 away from home this season. Central Florida opened its season with six consecutive wins--all coming at home--before losing at Minnesota, 74-63, last Tuesday. In other recent action, UCF defeated Jacksonville, 99-62, on Nov. 27 and Florida Atlantic, 87-65, on Dec. 9.

Sophomore guard Jermaine Taylor (6-4, 190) leads UCF in scoring (18.1 ppg), and is shooting 57.5 percent from the field and 52.5 percent (21-for-40) from 3-point range. Senior forward Josh Peppers (6-6, 205) is the other Golden Knight averaging double figures in points (11.3 ppg). Freshman forward Tony Davis (6-7, 195) is the team's leading rebounder (6.0 rpg), while junior guard Mike O'Donnell (6-0, 185) leads the way in assists (3.7 apg).

COMPARING THE NUMBERS

            Utah    UCFRecord          4-5 6-1Scoring         70.9    81.0Scoring Defense 66.2    60.6FG%         .516    .495FG% Defense .483    .3743-Pt. FG%   .461    .4133-Pt. FG% Def.  .474    .323FT%         .718    .700Rebound Margin  +2.9    +10.7Assists         15.9    17.4Turnovers   13.3    16.3Opp. Turnovers  12.9    18.1Steals          5.2 9.1Blocked Shots   1.9 4.1

GOLDEN KNIGHTS HEAD COACH KIRK SPERAW
Kirk Speraw is in his 14th season as the head coach at Central Florida. He is 215-179 at UCF and 297-200 in 17 years as a head coach. The Golden Knights have averaged 20 victories over the last five seasons and made four NCAA Tournament appearances under Speraw.

Speraw has enjoyed success on every rung of the coaching ladder. He came to UCF after a three-year stint as an assistant at the University of Florida under Lon Kruger. Prior to that, he posted three solid campaigns as the head coach at Pensacola Junior College, starting in 1987.

UCF went 14-15 overall and placed fifth in Conference USA last season with a 7-7 mark. In 2004-05, their last season in the Atlantic Sun Conference, the Golden Knights posted one of the most impressive campaigns in school history. UCF went 24-9 and claimed its first A-Sun regular season crown before winning the conference championship title. Speraw's team made its second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance in 2005, meeting the defending national champion Connecticut Huskies in the first round.

UTAH VS. CENTRAL FLORIDA SERIES NOTES
? The Runnin' Utes and Golden Knights meet for the first time on Tuesday afternoon.

? Ray Giacoletti has never faced Central Florida.

? Utah is 48-36 (.571) all-time against Conference USA's current teams and 5-4 (.556) on neutral courts.

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Utah Men's Basketball Notes - San Juan Shootout

Players Mentioned

Johnnie Bryant

Shaun Green

Luke Nevill

Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus Nevada [Exh] on October 17, 2025

Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball at Oregon [Exh] on October 24, 2025

Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus San José State on November 3, 2025

Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus Weber State on November 8, 2025

Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus Holy Cross on November 10, 2025

Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus Sam Houston State on November 15, 2025

Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus Purdue Fort Wayne on November 18, 2025

Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus Cal Poly on November 20, 2025

Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus Grand Canyon on November 25, 2025 at 10 PM

Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus Butler on March 31, 2025 , Loss , 84, to, 86

Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus No. 14-Seed UCF on March 11, 2025 , Loss , 72, to, 87

Completed Event: Men's Basketball at #23/22 BYU on March 8, 2025 , Loss , 74, to, 85

Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus West Virginia on March 4, 2025 , Loss , 69, to, 71

Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus Arizona State on March 1, 2025 , Win , 99, to, 73

Completed Event: Men's Basketball at #22/21 Arizona on February 26, 2025 , Loss , 66, to, 83

Completed Event: Men's Basketball at UCF on February 23, 2025 , Loss , 72, to, 76

Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus Kansas State on February 17, 2025 , Win , 74, to, 69

Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus #17/20 Kansas on February 15, 2025 , Win , 74, to, 67

Utah Men's Basketball Notes - San Juan Shootout

Players Mentioned

Johnnie Bryant

Shaun Green

Luke Nevill

Related Videos