Utah at Oregon
- Tip: Friday, 8 p.m. MDT
- Venue: Matthew Knight Arena, Eugene, Oregon
- Livestream: B1G+
- How to watch B1G+: A subscription is required — a one-time pay-per-view pass to watch the Utah-Oregon contest on B1G+ costs $8.99.
The trends
For Utah: The Utes played their first exhibition game last week at home against Nevada, where Utah lost 80-77.
Alex Jensen, in his first game as the Runnin’ Utes coach, went deep into his bench during the preseason matchup. Utah had a few guys banged up — Iowa transfer Seydou Traore started the game but left with an injury, while Don McHenry and Ibi Traore didn’t suit up.
For Oregon: This will be the Ducks’ first of two exhibition games. Oregon will face another former Pac-12 rival, Stanford, in the preseason next week.
The Ducks open the regular season Nov. 4 at home against Hawaii.
Players to watch
For Utah: Guard Terrence Brown had a big night in his Utah debut, as the Fairleigh Dickinson transfer scored a game-high 27 points while shooting 8 of 13 from the floor, 2 of 4 from 3-point range and 9 of 10 from the free-throw line.
Forward Keanu Dawes returns for the Utes, one year after averaging 8.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game as a sophomore. He also averaged a double-double over Utah’s final six games at 13.2 points and 10 rebounds per game.
For Oregon: Center Nate Bittle, who stands 7-foot, earned third team All-Big Ten and Big Ten all-defense honors a year ago. He averaged a team-high 14.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 1.9 assists last season and will challenge a shorter Utah front court.
Guard Jackson Shelstad was also an All-Big Ten third team honoree, and like Bittle, they were both named to the preseason All-Big Ten team earlier this month. Shelstad averaged 13.7 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game a year ago.
What to watch for
This will be Utah’s biggest test between now and when the Utes play at the Acrisure Series during Thanksgiving week.
Oregon is starting the year ranked No. 37 in the KenPom ratings, while none of the Utes’ first six opponents during the regular season are in the top 150 in KenPom.
The Ducks have made the NCAA Tournament each of the past two seasons under longtime coach Dana Altman, and Friday’s matchup will Jensen and his staff a chance to coach against one of the most well-established names in the college game.
Oregon also has more continuity on its roster than Utah, which has 12 new players this season. That’s led by the Ducks’ Bittle, Shelstad and Kwame Evans Jr, and Oregon added three four-star transfers, among them former Duke and Ohio State forward Sean Stewart.
While starting lineups, rotations and minutes are far from what they’ll be in the regular season, as coaches from both sides experiment during the preseason, this should still be a good barometer for how competitive the Utes could be against an established Ducks program.
Before Utah started exhibition play, Brown said it’s important that the Utes hold every opponent to the same standard.
“(It’s) just really looking at every team as the same and not underestimating any team and approaching every game like is we’re trying to go to the NCAA Tournament,” he said. “So really just coming in, buying in every day in practice, and buying in on the scout and then executing the games.”
What they’re saying
“You know, it was great. Again, it’s the first time the staff has coached a game together, the players have played together. You get a feel for each other. You kind of get an idea of what you need to do and where you need to go, rotations, (etc.).
“And then the big thing for us is with injuries, we kind of get a better feel of combinations of rotations that we have and what we have and what we need to get better at it, because, like I said, we’re all learning together. And yeah, it’s invaluable. I think it’s good for the fans to come see, too.”
— Utah coach Alex Jensen, on what the Utes can take away from their first exhibition