SALT LAKE CITY — When the Utah basketball teams takes on No. 6 Kentucky Wednesday night in Las Vegas, it will be the second of three neutral-site games the Utes will play consecutively.
The Utes have never done that in their 111-year history, played three consecutive single, nontournament games at neutral sites. They played Weber State on Saturday at Vivint Arena and, after Wednesday, will play San Diego State this Saturday as part of the one-day Hall of Fame Classic at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
It’s part of a trend in college basketball, with more games being played at neutral sites and fewer at home arenas. Utah’s five nonconference games at home are the fewest since the Huntsman Center opened in 1969.
Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said a lot of things go into the increase of neutral-site games, including charity games like Coaches vs. Cancer and television contracts, but a big factor is teams preferring not to have to play a road game where they might lose.
“The reality is the Kentuckys, Dukes and Kansases, they’re not going to play you a home and home,” he said. “If you want to have that opportunity to play (big schools), you’re going to have to go in to a neutral site and it’s a one-time thing.
“I’d like to have two or three home-and-homes arranged each year with two or three neutral-site games so we could get a nice crowd base for the ones we’re playing, but that’s just the way it is and there’s not much we can do about it.”
UTE NOTES: Following the game on Saturday, the Utes will have 12 days until their next game, Jan. 2 at home against Oregon State to start Pac-12 play. ... OSU is one of seven Pac-12 schools ranked ahead of the Utes in the NET rankings, coming in at No. 40. Others in the top 40 include Stanford (9), Arizona (15), Oregon (17), Arizona State (30), Colorado (31) and Washington (35). ... Utah ranks first in the Pac-12 in free-throw percentage at 74.9% and is second in scoring (83.0 ppg) and rebounding margin (8.2). ... Freshman guard Rylan Jones leads the league in free-throw percentage at 92.3%, is fourth in assists per game at 5.22 and fourth in assist/turnover ratio at 2.35. ... Timmy Allen is second in scoring at 20.6 ppg and ninth in rebounding at 7.4 rpg. ... Freshman Branden Carlsen ranks eighth in field goal percentage at 57.5%.