LEXINGTON, Ky -- A lot of Utah fans have wondered how in the heck the Utes ended up getting matched against their old nemesis in the second round of the Preseason NIT (today at 5 p.m. MST, ESPN-TV). How could Ute coach Rick Majerus have allowed his team to get stuck in such an unenviable position of playing Kentucky at Rupp Arena?
Well, uh, he asked for it.That's right, Majerus told NIT officials to put the Utes in the same bracket with the Wildcats, who have defeated the Utes four times in the past seven years in the NCAA tournament. Actually, that was after Majerus was informed the Utes wouldn't be one of the NIT's four teams assured of two home games.
"They told me to pick your poison. I picked Kentucky, so I could go home," said Majerus, who was born in Wisconsin and coached in Indiana. "This way my mother and a lot of friends and relatives can come to the game. We're also going to have a Ball State reunion. My problem is getting enough tickets for everyone. If I was smart, I would have picked Arizona."
Perhaps Majerus figured this is the year his Utes can finally knock off the Wildcats. The Wildcats have a young team with only one starter returning, Jamaal Magliore, while the Utes have an experienced team with seven of their top eight players back from last year.
However, the Utes have been battling injuries all fall, and they'll be without their top returning scorer, Hanno Mottola, who is out for several weeks with a knee injury. Also, center Nate Althoff and guard Trent Whiting have missed many practices with injuries, although both contributed to Utah's 76-43 win over Arkansas State Tuesday night.
In tonight's game, the Utes will especially need Althoff against Kentucky's front line, which includes 6-foot-10 sophomore Tayshaun Prince, 6-10 freshman Marvin Stone, 6-11 Jules Camera and the 6-10 Magliore. Stone led the Wildcats in Wednesday's win over Penn with 12 points in 15 minutes.
Saul Smith, who is the son of coach Tubby Smith, will likely start at point guard with 6-5 sophomore Desmond Allison at the other guard.
Freshman Keith Bogans will be the top reserve on the guardline, while another big player in Kentucky's lineup is Nate Knight, the 6-9 transfer from Utah Valley State College, who prepped at Alta High School.
"They're good, they're deep, they're Kentucky," said Majerus.
Assuming Althoff is healthy, he'll start at center with Phil Cullen and Alex Jensen at forwards and Tony Harvey and Jeremy Killion at guards.
Jeff Johnsen, who had 10 points and 10 rebounds off the bench Tuesday night, will see a lot of minutes along with Whiting and Gary Colbert.
The winner of tonight's game will play the winner of the Maryland-Tulane game, also being played tonight, Wednesday at New York City's Madison Square Garden.
UTE NOTES: In the Utes' only appearance at Rupp Arena, they defeated the Wildcats in 1976 in the finals of the Kentucky Invitational . . . While Kentucky has two players from the 1998 NCAA title game (Magliore and Smith), Utah has just one in Jensen (Althoff was on the team but didn't play) . . . Since ESPN didn't telecast Utah's win over Arkansas State Tuesday, Kentucky was scrambling to find a tape of the game. But former UK star Scott Padgett helped out by sending a videotape by overnight mail . . . The Kentucky media guide is 272 pages long (more than twice as big as Utah's) . . . Also the Wildcats have 112 media seats around the floor at Rupp Arena filled for every game (Utah has four on the floor and another dozen or so up higher).