Runnin' Utes and Aggies Set for Neutral Court Affair on Saturday

Saturday, December 9

Salt Lake City, Utah

5:30 PM

University of Utah

Utah State

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Runnin' Utes and Aggies Set for Neutral Court Affair on Saturday

12/8/2017 10:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Utes and Aggies meeting for the 224th time

GAME 9 | Utah (6-2) vs. Utah State (5-5)
Date/Tipoff: Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017 | 5:30 p.m. MT
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah (Vivint Smart Home Arena)
Television: Pac-12 Networks
TALENT: Daron Sutton (PxP), Matt Muehlebach (Color)
Radio: Utah Radio Sports Network
TALENT: Bill Riley (PxP), Jimmy Soto (Color)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast.com

Fast Breaks
• Utah and Utah State will be meeting for the 224th time, but for the first time since 2010, when both teams square-off with each other this Saturday, Dec. 9, at Vivint Smart Home Arena.
• Saturday's contest, which is part of the Beehive Classic that also includes both BYU and Weber State, will be the first time the utah and Aggies will have met on a neutral court.
• The Utes are coming off an 81-69 road loss in Indianapolis to Butler this past Tuesday, while the Aggies earned a 62-59 home win over UC Irvine in Logan on Tuesday.
• Freshman Donnie Tillman led the way for the Utes, pouring in a game-high 20 points. Tillman registered a new season/career-high and has now posted double-digit scoring efforts in seven straight games for the Utes.
• Utah has registered wins of 20 points or more in three of its six victories.

THE GAME
The Utah Runnin' Utes (6-2) and Utah State Aggies (5-5) will renew its rivalry for the 224th meeting between the two teams this Saturday, Dec. 9, at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.

COVERING THE RUNNIN' UTES
Saturday's contest will be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks with Daron Sutton calling the action and Matt Muehlebach providing color commentary.

Fans can also follow the action on-line by logging onto Pac-12.com/live or watching via smart phones and tablets using the Pac-12 Now App, 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 fell 81-69 to Butler in the team's first true road game of the season. Utah led by as many as eight points early in the first half, but a 17-6 Bulldog scoring run over the final nine minutes of the period gave the home team a three-point lead at the break.

Utah nailed two three-pointers early in the second half to stay with Butler, but a couple different runs pushed the lead to as many as 15 points and the Bulldogs never looked back.

Freshman Donnie Tillman was a bright spot for the Utes, scoring a new season/career-high on Tuesday, posting 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting, which included knocking down a pair of three-pointers late in the contest.

Tillman led Utah on the boards with seven rebounds, while senior Justin Bibbins notched a team-high five assists on the evening.

SCOUTING UTAH STATE
The Aggies are coming off a 62-59 road win over UC Irvine this past Wednesday. The victory snapped a two game losing streak and it also marked the first time since Nov. 15, that the Aggies did not give up at least 60 points to an opposing team.

Sam Merrill leads a trio of USU players scoring in double figures as he averages 15.1 points per game. Koby McEwen (13.0) and DeAngelo Isby (10.6) are the other two Aggies averaging double-digit scoring efforts on the year.

SERIES HISTORY
Utah and Utah State will meet for the 224th time this Saturday, but it will mark the first meeting between the two teams since 2010-11. Utah State won the last meeting, 79-62, back on Nov. 24, 2010, in Logan. Utah's last win over the Aggies was a 68-67 victory in Salt Lake City back in 2009.

The Utes and Aggies will be facing each other on a neutral court for the first time ever in the series. Utah and USU games have gone into overtime on 11 different occasions, but the last time a team needed overtime to secure the victory came back in 1991. USU won the contest 74-72 in a single overtime frame in Salt Lake City.

UP NEXT
The Utes will head to Provo for the first time since 2014-15 to take on the BYU Cougars. Tip-off between the in-state rivals is set for 9 p.m. at the Marriott Center.