Men's and Women's Basketball Set for Night with the Utes

Wednesday, October 17

Salt Lake City, Utah

7:00 PM

University of Utah

Night with the Runnin' Utes (Exh.)

Men's and Women's Basketball Set for Night with the Utes

10/15/2018 3:55 PM | Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball

First opportunity for fans to meet both teams this Wednesday

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah men's and women's basketball teams will host Night with the Utes this Wednesday, Oct. 17, at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The event is set to begin at 7 p.m. MT.

MEN'S BASKETBALL NOTES

BACK ON THE COURT: The Runnin' Utes are coming off a 23-12 overall season in 2017-18, which included going 11-7 and tying for third-place in the Pac-12 Conference. Utah earned an at-large bid to the NIT, going 4-1 in the tournament and finishing as the NIT national runner-up.

PRESEASON POLL: The Utes were picked to finish eighth in 2018-19 preseason media poll last week. Utah was picked to finish seventh a season ago, but notched an 11-7 record in league play to tie for third-place.

COACHING STAFF ENTERS EIGHTH SEASON TOGETHER: Utah returns its entire coaching staff, led by head coach Larry Krystkowiak, who enters his eighth season at the helm of the Runnin' Ute program. Krystkowiak enters the 2018-19 season with a 138-97 overall record in his seven seasons with the Utes. He is 180-117 all-time, which includes two seasons at Montana (2004-06, 42-20).

Krystkowiak welcomes back his coaching staff, associate head coach Tommy Connor, along with assistant coaches DeMarlo Slocum and Andy Hill. All four coaches have been together all eight seasons since taking over coaching duties for the program back in 2011-12.

RETURNING UTES: Utah returns seven letterwinners from last season's squad, which includes players that registered at least one start each: Sedrick Barefield (24 games started), Parker Van Dyke (12 starts), Donnie Tillman (four starts) and Jayce Johnson (one start). Other returners include Christian Popoola, Beau Rydalch and Marc Reininger. Utah also welcomes back Vante Hendrix and Brooks King, who both redshirted the 2017-18 campaign.

NEWEST UTES: Utah welcomes a total of nine newcomers to the team this season, which includes six incoming freshmen and three transfer players. Novak Topalovic transfers to the U as a graduate transfer from Idaho State, while both Charles Jones, Jr., (College of Southern Idaho) and Brandon Morley (Salt Lake Community College) make their way to the team via junior college transfers.

Incoming high school players new to the team are: Naseem Gaskin (Oakland, Calif.), Both Gach (Austin, Minn.), Kevin Kremer (Chico, Calif.), Timmy Allen (Mesa, Ariz.), Riley Battin (Oak Park Calif.) and Lahat Thioune (Dakar, Senegal).

UTAH NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE: Utah's non-conference slate includes six home contests, trips to both Minneapolis, Minn., and Lexington, Ky., and the Utes playing in the Wooden Legacy Classic in Fullerton, Calif. Overall, Utah will face a pair of potential top-five ranked teams and could face as many as four teams from last season's NCAA Tournament.

The Utes open the 2018-19 campaign with a home contest against Maine on Thursday, Nov. 8, and will then make its first road trip of the season with a game at Minnesota (Nov. 12). Utah returns home to host Mississippi Valley State (Nov. 15) before hitting the road again to compete in the Wooden Legacy (Nov. 22-15), which will be played in Fullerton, Calif.

Utah returns home to open the month of December with a contest against Tulsa (Dec. 1). Following a neutral contest at Vivint Smart Home Arena against BYU (Dec. 8), Utah returns to the road to take on the Kentucky Wildcats (Dec. 15) at legendary Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., on Saturday, Dec. 15. The Utes return home to round out its non-conference slate with three consecutive home contests against Florida A&M (Dec. 17), Northern Arizona (Dec. 21) and a potential top-five-ranked Nevada (Dec. 29).

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NOTES

BACK AT IT: Utah is coming off its second 18-win season and third straight trip to the postseason under the direction of head coach Lynne Roberts. The Utes were 18-14 overall in 2017-18, making it to the second round of the WNIT.

AT THE HELM: Roberts enters her fourth season with the Utes and is ready to hit the ground running. She has 52 wins under her belt in her three seasons at Utah and 273 carer wins in her 16 seasons as a head coach.

RETURNING STARTERS: The Utes are bringing back two of its three leading scorers from a year ago in seniors Megan Huff and Daneesha Provo. Huff, who was a first-team all-Pac-12 selection last season, led the Utes in scoring in 16 games last season and reached double digits in 22. Provo was a threat on the drive and from the three, ranking in the top-12 in the league in three-point percentage and three pointers made. Erika Bean rounds out Utah's returning starters after ranking in the top-five in the Pac-12 in assists in back-to-back seasons.

NEWCOMERS IN NUMBERS: The Utes welcome seven fresh faces to the Huntsman this year in Sarah Porter (Guard, Graduate Transfer), Ola Makurat (Forward, Transfer), Julie Brosseau (Guard, Transfer), Niyah Becker (Wing, Freshman), Lola Pendande (Forward, Freshman), Andrea Torres (Forward, Freshman) and Dre'Una Edwards (Forward/Wing, Freshman).

REDSHIRT READY: The Utes had two freshmen redshirt during the 2017-18 season in Dru Gylten and Jordan Cruz with both ready to see their first action in a Utah uniform. Gylten was a three-sport athlete at St. Thomas More in Rapid City, S.D. while Cruz averaged 20-plus points a game her senior season at C.K. McClatchy in Sacramento.

NEW CONTRACT: Roberts was awarded a contract extension this summer through the 2023 season. She has coached seven all-Pac-12 selections and 16 Pac-12 All-Academic honorees in her three seasons at the helm.