Utes lose a basketball game

News that Utah will be playing one less basketball game this year can be seen as good or bad for the Utes.
The Utes expected to play three games in three days Nov. 21-23 at the Glenn Wilkes Classic at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Fla. However when two teams dropped out, the schedule had to be rearranged and the Utes will play just two games — against Mississippi Friday night and Morgan State Saturday afternoon.
According to Jon Dykema, the U.’s director of basketball operations, Utah could have played a non-DIvision I program, presumably Rollins College, which will play Wisconsin-Green Bay on Saturday, but declined.
If the Utes had played a non-Division I team, it wouldn’t have helped their RPI since those wins don’t count. They already have one such game in the home opener against Southwest Baptist on Nov. 15.
However, the Utes would have liked to have another game just for the experience as most players and coached like to play as many games as possible. Plus at the end of the year, an extra win always looks good on the record.
The Utes will play Mississippi of the SEC on Friday, Nov. 21 at 4:30 p.m. MST Then on Saturday, while the Utah football team is playing archrival BYU, the Utes will play Morgan State of the MEAC in a game that begins at 2:15 p.m. MST. The Bears finished 22-13 last year and played in the NIT.
Dykema said the reason the Utes are playing in the tournament the same day as the Utah-BYU football game is because they expected the football game to be scheduled the Saturday after Thanksgiving as it was the past two seasons so that it wouldn’t conflict.
The Utes will also play Wisconsin-Green Bay in a home game on Nov. 18 at the Huntsman Center as part of the tournament.