Utah's last basketball win came a little over eight months ago when the Utes beat a quick Arkansas State team led by 5-foot-6 Chico Fletcher in the first round of the NCAA tournament
The No. 16-ranked Utes will face the same challenge in their first game of the 1999-2000 season when they take on Arkansas State and Chico Fletcher -- again -- in the first round of the Preseason NIT.Fletcher was difficult for the Utes to contain in last year's 80-58 victory (21 points) and he will be their biggest concern this year when the two teams play Tuesday night (7 p.m.. KJZZ-TV) at the Huntsman Center.
While Fletcher is the only returning starter for the Indians, the Utes lost just one starter in point guard Andre Miller. Even Miller, the Utes' all-American, had a hard time stopping Fletcher and the Utes' best defender against Fletcher was 6-5 Tony Harvey.
Harvey is likely to start at the point for the Utes and will get the first chance at guarding Fletcher.
"He's a helluva player -- he kicked our butt last year," said Ute coach Rick Majerus about Fletcher. "He's very quick, very explosive, a terrific scorer and an outstanding passer."
Knowing Majerus, he'll throw three or four different defenders at Fletcher. Who knows, maybe even defensive specialist Alex Jensen will get a crack at Fletcher.
Most likely, though, Jensen will be playing every possible minute inside where the Utes are extremely thin with two-year starter Hanno Mottola out with a knee injury and center Nate Althoff playing limited minutes, if any, after missing most of preseason practice with back problems.
Injuries have plagued the Utes all fall with Trent Whiting and Adam Sharp battling leg injuries and even Phil Cullen missing time with a sprained ankle besides Mottola and Althoff's problems.
"I have no idea, I'm just going to play it by ear," said Majerus. "Everyone's going to have to play more."
Cullen will start inside and returned missionary Jeff Johnsen will likely start at the small forward spot with Mike Puzey seeing more minutes in reserve. Harvey and Jeremy Killion will likely start at the guardline with Whiting and Gary Colbert seeing time off the bench along with Sharp.
As of Monday morning, Majerus said he is still considering redshirting freshman Nick Jacobson, even though the Utes are saddled with injuries.
Despite losing four starters from last year's 18-12 squad, the Indians feel they have a lot of talent and firepower, but are inexperienced.
A couple of the top returnees are 6-4 forward C.J. Pepper, who averaged 11.7 points and 5.9 rebounds off the bench last year, and 6-7 forward Luis Rivas, who scored 5.1 ppg.
The top Indian newcomers are 6-2 JC transfer Jamie Rosser, who will likely start at guard, 6-9 transfer Kolin Weaver, who led the Indians in scoring in the two preseason games, 6-0 freshman Jon Beck and 6-3 freshman Odie Williams.
UTE NOTES: If the Utes win, they'll play the winner of the Kentucky-Penn game played Wednesday night. If Kentucky wins, the Utes will play at Lexington, if Penn wins, they would play at the Huntsman Center . . . Those worried about comparing scores of Utah's two-point loss to the California All-Stars and Kentucky's 13-point win over the California All-Stars, keep in mind there are three different California All-Star teams. Utah's opponent is apparently the best of the bunch, with a winning record after eight games . . . This isn't the Utes' earliest opening date. In each of the last two years, they opened Nov. 14 and Nov. 15.