Men's Basketball to Honor Seniors Ahead of Home Finale Against Cal Saturday Night

Saturday, March 2

Salt Lake City, UT

7:00 PM

University of Utah

California

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Men's Basketball to Honor Seniors Ahead of Home Finale Against Cal Saturday Night

3/1/2024 4:34 PM | Men's Basketball

Utah Game Notes Cal Game Notes

The Utah men’s basketball program will honor its five seniors ahead of its home finale against Cal on Saturday.

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah men's basketball team closes out the 2023-24 home slate this Saturday, March 2, against California as it prepares to honor five seniors in student-manager Finlay Dunn, Cole Bajema, Ben Carlson, Gabe Madsen and Branden Carlson. Guy Haberman and Don MacLean will have the call on Pac-12 Networks beginning at 7 p.m. (MT) one last time inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center as the Runnin' Utes look to extend their five-game winning-streak against the Golden Bears.

STATS EDIT
After reviewing the tape, Utah's Deivon Smith finished the game with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists against Stanford. He was originally credited with 10 assists at the end of the game Thursday night. The 13 dimes is a season-high for Utah and tied for 10th-most in a single-game.

SENIOR SEND OFF
Utah's senior ceremony is scheduled to take place at 6:42 p.m. (MT) on the Jon M. Huntsman floor. Student-manager Finlay Dunn (Wilsonville, Ore.) will be honored first followed by student-athletes Cole Bajema (Lynden, Wash.), Ben Carlson (Woobury, Minn.), Gabe Madsen (Rochester, Minn.) and Branden Carlson (South Jordan, Utah).

IN GOOD COMPANY
With his third triple-double of the season, Deivon Smith becomes just the third Pac-12 player to record three in a single-season joining Jason Kidd (4; 1993-94) and Andre Iguodala (3; 2003-04). In addition, Smith is just the fourth player from a major conference to record three or more triple-doubles in a season according to the NCAA record book joining Kidd (Cal), Iguodala (Arizona) and LSU's Shaquille O'Neill (3; 1991-92).

Through games on Feb. 29, Smith is just the second player in the NCAA this season to record three-plus triple-doubles. Western Carolina's Vonterius Woolbright currently leads the nation with four.

BAJEMA BREAKOUT
Cole Bajema became the fifth different player this season for Utah to record 20-plus points in a game after scoring a career-high 21 points on Thursday against Stanford. It's also the 15th time this season a Runnin' Ute has done so this season. Bajema's previous career-high was 18 against Colorado (1/9/22) on the road last season as a member of the Washington Huskies squad.

LAST TIME OUT
Utah was running on all cylinders on Thursday against Stanford backed by a career-high 21 points from Cole Bajema and a triple-double from Deivon Smith with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists. The Runnin' Utes used two large runs, one in each half, to separate itself from the Cardinal and secure the 90-68 victory. Lawson Lovering had a solid outing off the bench for Utah, scoring 17 points with 5 rebounds on a perfect 6-for-6 shooting night. Gabe Madsen chipped in with 15 points of his own to go with 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in the win.

UP NEXT
The Utah men's basketball team will now close out the 2023-24 regular-season on the road next week starting with Oregon State on Thursday, March 7, with tip-off slated for 9 p.m. (MT) on ESPNU. The Runnin' Utes will then close out its final trip to the PNW to close the Pac-12 Era at Oregon on Saturday, March 9. Tip-off set for 5 p.m. (MT) between the Utes and Ducks on Pac-12 Networks with potential conference tournament seeding on the line.

LOOKING AHEAD
With the regular-season all wrapped up after next week's road swing, the Utah men's basketball team will head to Las Vegas for the final Pac-12 Tournament appearance March 13-16 inside T-Mobile Arena.

For the latest news and information on the Runnin' Utes men's basketball program, fans can stay connected online at www.UtahUtes.com and on social media by following @UtahMBB on Facebook, X and Instagram.

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