Runnin' Utes Welcome UT Tyler for Exhibition Game Wednesday Night

OPENING TIP
University of Utah men's basketball fans will get their first look at a real live-action game this Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 6:30 p.m. (MT) when the Runnin' Utes play host to Division II UT Tyler inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center for an exhibition game.

Veteran play-by-play Roxy Bernstein (@roxyberstein) will have the call Wednesday night while Dan Belluomini serves as the analyst on the Pac-12 Network broadcast.

??SCHEDULE POSTER??

Pick up our 2019-20 Poster on Wednesday night at our Exhibition Game vs UT Tyler! #GoUtes???? pic.twitter.com/HLPU5urZpe
— Utah Basketball?? (@UtahMBB) October 29, 2019

WHERE TO WATCH
Fans out of town or not able to come to the game can watch the game on the Pac-12 Network, online or watch through the Pac-12 Now App on a mobile or tablet device.

LISTEN UP
Utah fans can listen in on the broadcast by listening to the game on ESPN 700 AM with Bill Riley serving as the "Voice of the Utes" alongside former men's basketball player Jimmy Soto. Fans can also listen in on the broadcast for every game online or on their mobile/table device through TuneIn.

COACHES SHOW
Catch Utah head men's basketball coach Larry Krystkowiak on the Coaches Show with Bill Reilly presented by Smith's on the Utah Athletics YouTube page or on the University of Utah ESports Twitch channel.

STAY CONNECTED
Get up to the minute information and news about the Utah men's basketball team all season long on Twitter and Instagram by following @UtahMBB and on Facebook at FB.com/UtahMBB.

OPENING TIP
The University of Utah men's basketball team has a new look with 12 newcomers, including redshirt freshman Lahat Thioune and JUCO transfer Alfonso Plummer. The 12 new faces that'll suit up this season ties Utah for fourth-most in the NCAA with UT Martin heading into the 2019-20 season. TCU leads the nation with 15 (10 freshmen), followed by Nebraska with 14 (seven) and ECU with 13 (4).

Of the 12 new faces on the court, 10 are freshmen with six hailing from the Beehive state. Returning for the Utes are a pair of starters in Timmy Allen and Riley Battin in addition to Both Gach, who started in 14-of-30 contests last year as a freshman. Utah will also have the services of a pair of returners in senior Marc Reininger and sophomore Brooks King.

Offensively, the Utes return 35-percent of their offense from last season between Allen, Gach, Battin, King and Reininger. Allen is the team's only returner who averaged in double-figures last season, posting 12.2 points per game to go with 5.1 boards per game and a .575 shooting clip. Gach averaged 7.7 points and 2.1 assists last year while Battin averaged 6.4 points and 3.4 boards for the Utes.

YOUTHFUL UTES
As mentioned, the Utes have 10 true freshmen on the team and a redshirt freshman in Lahat Thioune. The 11 freshmen on the team ties Utah with Navy and TCU for the most freshmen (redshirts included) on any team heading into the 2019-20 campaign. Air Force was the only other school with double-digit freshmen on its team.

Speaking of youthful, Utah only has two upperclassmen on its roster in senior Marc Reininger and junior transfer Alfonso Plummer – which is the lowest in Division I. Florida checks in with three while Central Connecticut, Lipscomb and Long Beach State check in with just four upperclassmen for tie at third.

MOVIN' ON UP
Heading into the 2019-20 season, Utah head men's basketball coach Larry Krystkowiak needs just three more wins to reach career victory No. 200. He currently sits at 197-130 as a Division I head coach.

SCOUTING THE PATRIOTS
UT Tyler enters the 2019-20 season under first-year head coach Louis Wilson. At his disposal will be seven of the Patriots' top nine scorers from last season. Wilson also added nine players to his roster, including eight upperclassmen, a sophomore transfer and two true freshmen.

Among the leading returnees is Darius Alford, a 5-11 sophomore guard who averaged a team-high 18.6 points and 2.1 steals per game as a freshman last season. Alford is joined by five seniors who return to the team, including Ty Bennett (11.5 ppg & 5.2 rpg), Xavier Fogle (7.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg), Omar Mohamed (6.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg), Jared Jenkins (5.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg) and Brad Mason (9.6 ppg). Mason was limited to 10 games, but the other four seniors and Alford each started at least 13 games last season. Sophomore forward Bryson Power is the tallest player on the roster at 6 -10, and appeared in 13 games as a freshman last year.

UP NEXT
The 2019-20 campaign for the Utah men's basketball team will officially begin next Tuesday, Nov. 5, when the Utes travel to Nevada for an 8:30 p.m. (MT) tip-off on CBS Sports Network. The season-opener will be a return game between the Utes and Wolfpack. Nevada, who was then ranked sixth in AP Poll, came in to Salt Lake City and left with an 86-71 victory over the Utah.

HOME COOKIN'
Dating back to the 2011-12 season, Utah currently has 105 victories when playing in the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The Utes are just 1-of-13 programs in the west coast to have at least 105 wins at home since 2011-12. The other 12 include: Oregon, Saint Mary's, Arizona, Gonzaga, New Mexico State, San Diego State, UCLA, BYU, Colorado, Wyoming, UNLV and Hawaii.

PRO UTES
On opening night of the 2019-20 NBA season, Utah had three active players on NBA rosters in Kyle Kuzma (Los Angeles Lakers), Jakob Poeltl (San Antonio Spurs) and Delon Wright (Dallas Mavericks). All three were drafted in the first-round of the NBA Draft in consecutive years between 2015-17 – making Utah the only team to do so in the Pac-12.

PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
Despite Utah's knack for finishing well above its preseason predictions, the Utes were again picked in the lower-half of the Pac-12 Preseason Poll – checking in at No. 9 with 131 points.

For the second year in a row and third time in the past four seasons, Oregon was picked to win the league title after earning a total of 291 points and receiving 9 of the possible 27 first-place votes. Colorado also received nine first-place votes, while Washington pulled in six. It marked only the second time in the league's preseason poll history that two teams received the same number of first-place votes (1988-89). The three points separating Oregon and Colorado were the fourth-fewest in 36 seasons of the conference preseason polling. Others to receive first-place votes included Arizona (2) and USC (1), picked fourth and fifth, respectively, with 263 and 198 points.

Sophomore forward Timmy Allen was named to the Preseason All-Pac-12 second team after a stellar freshman campaign averaging 12.2 points and 5.5 rebounds, which earned him Pac-12 All-Freshman Team honors.

CHAMPIONS ON THE COURT AND IN THE CLASSROOM
In the latest NCAA Graduation Success Rate report, 94-percent of Utah's student-athletes graduated within six years of enrolling – which is the highest of any Power-5 public institution in the nation. In addition, men's basketball was one of eight programs at Utah to achieve a perfect GSR score, joining men's and women's skiing, men's tennis, gymnastics, soccer, women's tennis and volleyball. It also marked the third-consecutive year the men's basketball team has had a perfect GSR score.

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Players Mentioned

Timmy Allen

Riley Battin

Both Gach

Brooks King

Kyle Kuzma

Alfonso Plummer

Jakob Poeltl

Marc Reininger

Lahat Thioune