University of Utah Athletics

GAME 10 | Utah (7-2) at BYU (8-2)
Date/Tipoff: Saturday, Dec. 16, 2017 | 9 p.m. MT
Location: Provo, Utah (Marriott Center)
Television: ESPN2
TALENT: Roxy Bernstein (PxP), Bill Walton (Color)
Radio: Utah Radio Sports Network
TALENT: Bill Riley (PxP), Jimmy Soto (Color)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast.com
 
Fast Breaks
• Utah and BYU will meet for the 258th time when the teams square-off this Saturday at the Marriott Center in Provo.
• The Utes are coming off a 77-67 win over Utah State in the inaugural Beehive Classic, which was held at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City.
• The Cougars, who also played in the Beehive Classic this past Saturday, is coming off a 74-68 win over Weber State.
• Seniors Justin Bibbins and Tyler Rawson led the way for the Utes this past weekend, scoring 16 points each in Utah's win over the Aggies. Senior David Collette (13 points) and junior Parker Van Dyke (10 points) also managed to score in double figures for the Utes.
• The Utes rank first in the Pac-12 and sixth in the nation, giving up just a .263 three-point shooting percentage to opposing teams this season.
 
THE GAME
The Utah Runnin' Utes (7-2) will take on another in-state rival this weekend as the team heads to Provo to face the BYU Cougars (8-2) this Saturday, Dec. 16, at the Marriott Center. Tip-off between the Utes and Cougars is set for 9 p.m. MT.
 
COVERING THE RUNNIN' UTES
Saturday's contest will be televised live on the ESPN2 with Roxy Bernstein calling the action and Bill Walton providing color commentary.
 
Fans can also follow the action on-line by logging onto watchespn.com or watching via smart phones and tablets using the ESPN or WatchESPN Apps, which can be downloaded at the Apple Store, Google Play Store or Amazon Apps Store.
 
Additionally, the contest can be found on the Utah Sports Radio Network (ESPN 700). Bill Riley will provide play-by-play, with the assistance of in-game analyst Jimmy Soto.
 
Live stats will be provided for both games with links to each contest found at www.UtahUtes.com or www.StatBroadcast.com.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Utah rebounded from a mid-week loss to Butler with a 77-67 neutral court victory over Utah State this past Saturday at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City.
 
Utah led by as many as 21 points late in the first half and then survived second half Aggie run to earn the 10-point win. The Utes were led by 16-point efforts from both Justin Bibbins and Tyler Rawson, while shooting better than 50 percent from the field, 45 percent from downtown and 86 percent from the free throw line.
 
Utah lost the battle of the boards and were out-rebounded 35-31, but tallied a total of six blocked shots, while giving up just one block to the Aggies.
 
SCOUTING BYU
The Cougars are coming off a 74-68 win over Weber State this past Saturday and bring in a five-game winning streak into Saturday's contest with the Utes.
 
The Cougars are 3-1 at home on the season, with its only loss coming to UT-Arlington, 89-75, back on Nov. 18. The Cougars are averaging 85.2 points per game at home on the season, which includes having scored 90 points or more in two of those contests.
 
Yoeli Childs and Eljah Bryant lead the Cougars in scoring as both players average 16.2 points per game each. Childs also leads the team on the boards with 8.9 rebounds per contest and has tallied a team-high 24 blocked shots on the year. TJ Haws has tallied a team-high 42 assists and Bryant has registered a team-leading 14 steals through BYU's first 10 games of the season.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Utes and Cougars will meet for the 258th time in a series that dates back to 1909. BYU leads the all-time series by a one-game margin, having won 129 games and the Utes having 128 of the meetings. Utah has won the three previous meetings, but the Cougars won seven straight prior to the 2013 season.
 
Utah and BYU have played in 15 games that have went into overtime, but the last time the two squads went into overtime was back in 2009.
 
Utah is 48-72 all-time when playing the Cougars in Provo, which includes having won the last meeting, 65-61, at the Marriott Center back on Dec. 10, 2014. That road win snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Cougars in Provo.
 
DISHING WITH RAWSON
Tyler Rawson ranks second on the team with 31 assists, just 11 assists behind team-leader Justin Bibbins' total of 42 assists, but he ranks first on the team, third in the Pac-12 and 30th in the nation with a 3.10 assist/turnover ratio. Rawson has registered just 10 turnovers on the season.
 
Rawson, who tallied a new season/career-high seven assists against Ole Miss earlier this season, has registered five or more assists in three games this season. He has led the team in assists in four games this year.
 
NOT SO FRESHMAN FORM
Donnie Tillman, who is playing as a true freshman for the Utes this season, ranks first on the team, first in the Pac-12 and among the top 100 players in the nation with a .867 free throw percentage. The Detroit native has drained 26 of his 30 attempts from the charity stripe already and has posted 100 percent efforts from the free throw line in three games this season, which included a 5-of-5 effort against Ole Miss.
 
Tillman did not attempt a free throw in his last contest, but has still gone 19-of-21 from the charity stripe in his last six games.
 
UTES FROM DEEP
Utah has tallied three-point shooting percentages of .400 or better in two straight games and three games overall on the season. As a team, the Utes have combined to sink 10 three-pointers or more in four games this season, which included a season-high 13 trey's against Mississippi Valley State back on Nov. 13.
 
UP NEXT
Utah will wrap-up non-conference play next week with a tilt against Northwestern State next Wednesday, Dec. 20, at the Huntsman Center. It will be the final tune-up for the Utes before opening up Pac-12 play at Oregon on Dec. 29, in Eugene.