The Utah basketball team, which has been ranked as high as No. 4 in the nation in some preseason rankings, made its 1996-97 debut Friday night at the annual "Night with the Runnin' Utes" at the Huntsman Center.
Senior guard Ben Caton led all scorers with 27 points, including five three-pointers, while all-American forward Keith Van Horn added 26 in leading the Red team to victory. Michael Doleac, who traded off between the Red and White squads, scored 16 points, while Andre Miller scored 12 and Drew Hansen 10.Among the new players, freshman guard David Jackson scored 12 points, including a pair of three-pointers, while Hanno Mottola, the 6-9 forward from Finland, was impressive with 11 points. Sophomore forward Ashante Johnson added 10, while Jeff Johnsen, a freshman guard from Murray High chipped in eight points.
Ute assistant coaches Donny Daniels and Jeff Judkins coached the two squads for four 10 minute quarters, while head coach Rick Majerus watched from the sidelines. Majerus isn't thrilled with what he's seeing so far after 10 days of practice, but that's typical of the Ute coach.
"It's difficult to tell right now," he said. "We've got seven guys who are brand new and six guys returning, so more than half the team doesn't know what's going on."
Majerus said he'll start the four returning starters - Van Horn, Doleac, Caton and Miller, but said he has "no idea" who the fifth starter will be.
"If I knew the answer to that, I'd be sleeping better at night," he said.
Before the scrimmage, the Utes had a three-point contest and a slam dunk contest. For the third year in a row, the 6-11 Doleac won the three-point contest, edging Caton in the finals.
Sophomore Will Carlton won the slam dunk for the second straight year, topping off his routine by throwing the ball up in the air, doing a cartwheel, catching the ball and slamming it home.