Runnin' Utes Entertain Oregon State in Pac-12 Opener

Thursday, January 2

Salt Lake City, UT

6:30 PM

University of Utah

Oregon State

Runnin' Utes Entertain Oregon State in Pac-12 Opener

12/31/2019 10:50 AM | Men's Basketball

Utah Game Notes Oregon State Notes Pac-12 Notes

The Utah men’s basketball team opens Pac-12 play hosting Oregon State Thursday, Jan. 2.

OPENING TIP
The Utah men's basketball team welcomes Oregon State this Thursday, Jan. 2, for its Pac-12 opener inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center. J.B. Long will have the call on the Pac-12 Network broadcast while Matt Muehlebach serves as the analyst when the Utes battle the Beavers for the 32nd time in program history at 6:30 p.m. (MT).

UPCOMING PROMOTIONS
The first 1,000 fans in attendance for Saturday's game against No. 4/6 Oregon will get an 11x17 poster of a variety of former Runnin' Utes greats. In addition, the first 5,000 fans will also get a red light stick.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
The 13th meeting of conference play between Utah and Oregon State will feature the league's top two scorers in Timmy Allen (21.0 ppg) and Tres Tinkle (20.4 ppg). Allen has led the Utes in scoring in all 12 non-conference games while Tinkle has led the Beavers in scoring seven times. In addition, the 6-7 forward also led the team in rebounds in 8-of-12 games.

Tinkle, who is Oregon State's fourth all-time leading scorer with 1,906 career points, needs to average well below is current average to surpass the legendary Gary Payton (2,172) and become the program's all-time leading scorer.

Junior Ethan Thompson is second on the team in scoring, checking in with 15.8 points per game to go while averaging 4.7 rebounds and assists. The 6-5 guard is also second in steals with 16 behind Tinkle's 24. Standing at 7-0, Kylor Kelley is third on the team in the scoring column third player averaging in double-digits for OSU with 11.7 points and 4.6 boards. His .602 shooting clip is second best on the team behind Sean Miller-Moore's .643 clip (18-of-28).

The Beavers had a great start to the season, winning nine of its first 10 games – including a seven-game winning-streak between losses. OSU's first loss came in game three of the season against Oklahoma 77-69 in a neutral game at the Moda Center before falling to Texas A&M on the road 64-49. In the two losses, the Beavers shot just .374 from the field (.268 from 3FG) while opponents shot a .420 clip (.386 from 3FG). In addition, Oregon State lost the battle of the glass 88-69.

TREASURE STATE GREATS
Thursday's meeting against Oregon State will be the eighth meeting between Larry Krystkowiak and his former Montana teammate Wayne Tinkle, which is in slight favor of Krystkowiak 4-3. Krystkowiak, Montana's all-time leading scorer with 2,017 points, played for his home team from 1982-86 while Tinkle saw action for the Grizzlies from 1985-89. Since then, the two teammates have synonymously linked together.

In the record books, Krystkowiak led the Grizzles in scoring and rebounding from 1983-86 before Tinkle took over the mantle from 1987-89. Krystkowiak still holds the school record with 1,105 career rebounds while Tinkle checked in at No. 4 all-time with 836 and is seventh in scoring all-time with 1,500 points at Montana.

Their connection continued when Tinkle served as an assistant on Krystkowiak's staff for two season (2004-06) before succeeding the throne when Krystkowiak took his talents to the NBA before the two squared off against one another in 2014-15 when Tinkle took over the Oregon State program.

UTES IN PAC-12 OPENERS
Heading into its ninth season as a member of the Pac-12, Utah is 4-4 all-time in conference openers. When those conference-opening games occurred at home, the Utes are 3-1 since joining the league in 2011-12.

In the eight season, Utah has opened the conference slate against the Oregon schools twice. This will be the first time the Utes will play against Oregon State first. Utah split its conference-opener at home vs. Oregon during the 2013-14 season falling to No. 10 Oregon 70-68 in overtime before defeating Oregon State 80-69. The Utes then opened Pac-12 play in 2017-18 with a sweep of the Ducks (66-56) and Beavers (66-64) on the road.

Swept Conference Opener (2 games)
2014-15: vs. USC (79-55) and UCLA (71-39)
2017-18: at Oregon (66-56) and at Oregon State (66-64)

Got Swept in Conference Opener (2 games)
2012-13: at Arizona State (55-54 OT) and at #3 Arizona (60-57)
2015-16: at Stanford (70-68 OT) and at California (71-58)

Split Conference Opener (2 games)
2013-14: vs. #10 Oregon (L, 70-68 OT) and vs. Oregon State (W, 80-69)
2018-19: vs. Arizona State (W, 96-86) and vs. Arizona (L, 84-81 OT)

Season-Openers vs. Colorado
2011-12: at Colorado (L, 73-33)
2016-17: vs. Colorado (W, 76-60)

LAST TIME OUT
The Utes had a tough time finding rhythm on offense against then No. 20 San Diego State and managed to just connect on 15 field goals on the day and fell to the Aztecs 80-52. Despite trailing just 29-19 at the break on 23.8-percent shooting, Utah couldn't keep up with SDSU's defense and surrendered 51 points in the second half.

Timmy Allen led the way for Utah with a game-high 21 points and six rebounds in the loss with just Both Gach, Rylan Jones and Alfonso Plummer scoring five-plus points. As a team, the Runnin' Utes shot a season-low .326 from the floor and turned the ball over 17 teams for the second-straight game.

UP NEXT
Utah continues Pac-12 play and will have its hands full as No. 4/6 Oregon comes to Salt Lake City 11-2 on the year and a Thursday battle against Colorado. The Ducks will ride a four game win-streak into Saturday's 3:30 p.m. (MT) tip-off on Pac-12 Network with J.B. Long and Don MacLean on the call.

LOOKING AHEAD
Utah will get a nice little break after opening the season against the Oregon schools and won't play until Sunday, Jan. 12, at Colorado on ESPNU with a 4 p.m. (MT) tip. The Buffs boasted an 11-2 overall record in non-con play and riding a four-game winning-streak into conference action as they play host to No. 4/6 Oregon before welcoming Oregon State.

TIMMY TWO-TIMES
Utah sophomore Timmy Allen was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week for the second time in three weeks after averaging 23.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists with a .483 shooting clip while guiding the Runnin' Utes to an upset win over then No. 6 Kentucky.

This is the second weekly honor Allen has earned this year and the first Ute to earn multiple weekly conference honors since Jakob Poeltl did so in 2015-16. Allen is also the first player this season to earn multiple player of the week honors through seven weeks.

In the first game, Allen posted 25 points against the sixth-ranked Wildcats – including 15 in the first half. The sophomore continued to score when the Utes needed him most in the second half of the game, but none bigger than the go-ahead bucket with 1:21 left to play, 68-66. Allen finished with 25 points, nine rebounds and four assists in addition to going 9-of-12 from the line to help Utah take down its first AP Top-10 team since defeating then No. 9 Arizona 70-64 at home on Feb. 27, 2106. It was also the team's first win against non-conference opponent in the AP Top-10 since beating No. 7 Duke 77-75 (OT) on Nov. 19, 2015.

The Mesa, Ariz., then dropped 21 points along with 6.0 rebounds a few days later against No. 20 San Diego State inside STAPLES Center. Allen's offense kept the Utes within striking distance heading into the second half before the Aztecs clamped down on defense and handed the U its third loss of the season.

WHAT CAN JONES DO FOR YOU?
Freshman Rylan Jones is having a great freshman season, averaging 11.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.2 steals for the Utes. Heading into conference action, the local product can see himself move into the top-5 in several categories amongst freshman that have donned a Utah uniform with 19 games remaining, including the opening round game of the Pac-12 Tournament.

3-Point Field Goals Made (Season)
Rk.	Player	Season	3FGM
1.	Marshal Henderson	2009-10	65
2.	Shaun Green	2005-06	43
3.	Jimmy Carroll	1993-94	41
4.	Nick Jacobson	2000-01	37
5.	Jordan Loveridge	2012-13	35
	Keith Van Horn	1993-94	35
	Rylan Jones	2019-20	23

3-Point Field Goal Percentage (Season)
Rk.	Player	Season	PCT
1.	Kenneth Ogbe	2005-06	.471
	Jordie McTavish	1996-97	.471
3.	Jimmy Carroll	1993-94	.456
4.	Keith Van Horn	1993-94	.443
5.	Terry Preston	1993-94	.435
	Rylan Jones	2019-20	.469

Assists (Season)
Rk.	Player	Season	AST
1.	Gale Gondrezick	1984-85	142
2.	Terry Preston	1993-94	119
3.	Josh Grant	1988-89	114
4.	Tim Drisdom	2002-03	101
5.	Kareem Storey	2011-12	97
	Rylan Jones	2019-20	55

Assists Average (Season)
Rk.	Player	Season	PCT
1.	Gale Gondrezick	1984-85	4.9
2.	Terry Preston	1993-94	4.6
3.	Josh Grant	1988-89	3.5
4.	Tim Drisdom	2002-03	3.1
	Kareem Storey	2011-12	3.1
	Rylan Jones	2019-20	5.0

Steals (Season)
Rk.	Player	Season	STL
1.	Josh Grant	1988-89	42
2.	Shaun Green	2005-06	31
3.	Gale Gondrezick	1984-85	30
4.	Mark Rydalch	1992-93	28
5.	Jordan Loveridge	2012-13	27
	Rylan Jones	2019-20	13