Utes prepared for 'Cats, hope to avoid mistakes

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This week, between final exams, the Utes studied up on No. 24 Arizona.
The lesson? Avoid the mistakes they made a year ago, when Arizona outrebounded Utah in the closing minutes of a five-point Ute loss at the McKale Center.
"We got them to take shots that were advantageous for us, but we couldn't rebound the basketball," coach Ray Giacoletti said.
And so the Utes spent the better part of this week on box-out drills, just as they did before a win over SUU last weekend. Although slowing down Arizona's high-tempo style and keeping its best players in check are also critical, Utah hopes first to control the battle underneath the basket.
Senior Chris Jackson (6-foot-10) and freshman Luke Nevill (7-1) will have their hands full against Arizona's big men, center Kirk Walters and forward Ivan Radenovic. Both are 6-10.
"The two main keys are we have to handle their pressure and we have to keep them off the glass," Jackson said. "If we can do those two things then we'll put ourselves in the best position we can to go get a win out of it."

Taking it with them?

The Utes aren't planning on Arizona bringing extra baggage from this week's off-court developments to Salt Lake.
"I don't think they'll have any issues or problems with that," Giacoletti said. "Once they get on the floor it's about their energy defensively, and who knows it may even get them a little more excited about having the chance to play on Saturday."
The Wildcats' leading scorer, Hassan Adams, was arrested over the weekend and issued a misdemeanor citation for refusing to leave a party when police told him to do so. Arizona coach Lute Olsen said too big a deal was made over the matter and that Adams, a senior, would start. Then, on Wednesday, senior Chris Rodgers complained to the media about a lack of playing time.
"You never know how off-court issues can affect a team," Jackson said. "Some people it might hurt them and some people it might help them."

Endlines

Freshman Lawrence Borha will start against Arizona, after making his debut as a first-teamer against Southern Utah. He went scoreless against the Thunderbirds, but said he tried to force too much and will focus on slowing down and finding a rhythm Saturday. . . . On the question of the Utes' on-again, off-again effort, Giacoletti said: "If you can't get excited for a game like Saturday at home against Arizona, then you don't have a pulse and probably shouldn't be playing.? The Utes haven't lost a home game to a Top 25 team since 1996, when Wake Forest beat Utah 70-59.

 

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Arizona's Adams will start vs. Utes

By Mike Sorensen
Deseret Morning News
Arizona's top player, Hassan Adams, will be in the starting lineup after all for Saturday's game against Utah at the Huntsman Center.
John Miller, Associated PressArizona's Hassan Adams, who recently ran afoul of the law, will be in the Wildcats' starting lineup at the Huntsman Center on Saturday. The Utes meet the 24th-ranked Wildcats at 2 p.m. Saturday in an ESPN-televised contest.
Adams, who averages 18.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, was arrested and cited for disturbing the peace early last Sunday. His status was up in the air until Wildcat coach Lute Olsen, who was out of town recruiting earlier in the week, commented on the situation Wednesday.
"I think in this country, the legal system is you are innocent until you are proven guilty unless you are an athlete," Olson said. "I'm not the least bit concerned about what happened. What he is charged with is similar to you getting a speeding ticket."
Utah coach Ray Giacoletti said "not at all" when asked if the news of Adams playing made any difference in his team's preparations. He respects Adams' play and recalls how he scored 14 points and made some key offensive rebounds in Arizona's 67-62 win over Utah last year in Tucson.
Giacoletti said his biggest worry is stopping the "runs" the Wildcats are able to go on. He said they've had five significant runs this year, including a 29-1 run in a 30-point win over Virginia.
"They can just break a team," Giacoletti said. "We have to find a way to avoid the (runs)."
GAME NOTES: Utah officials say ticket sales for Saturday's game have been going well and that approximately 2,000 were available as of Thursday afternoon. So far this year, the Utes have averaged just under 10,000 per game at home . . . Olson said guard Chris Rodgers (10.3 ppg) would be in the starting lineup Saturday after not starting at Houston because of missing a team meal and against St. Mary's because of final exam preparation . . . Utah leads the overall series with Arizona 28-19. Utah's last win over Arizona came in the NCAA Tournament in 1998, 76-51.

 

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Utes glad Markson is not a Wildcat


If Bryant Markson hadn't made a promise to his friend Tim Drisdom four years ago, he probably would have ended up at the University of Arizona.
Today he would be playing at the Huntsman Center for the first time instead of his 53rd time when Utah meets the No. 24-ranked Wildcats (2 p.m., ESPN).
Coming out of Monrovia High School in Southern California, Markson could have played at several colleges and he received an offer from Arizona.
"I love (Arizona coach) Lute Olson . . . I was going to go there . . . it was real close," Markson said earlier this week.
However, he told Drisdom he would go to college wherever he went, so when Drisdom committed to Utah in the fall of 2001, Markson followed.
He's happy he did and this year, Markson is Utah's marquee player, leading the team in scoring (16.6 ppg), rebounding (6.0 rpg), assists (3.3 apg) and steals (1.6 spg), while shooting 51.3 percent from the field and 76.2 percent from the line.
Markson will be a key to the Utes' upset hopes today and he'll be counted on to slow down the Wildcats' top player, Hassan Adams (18.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg), a player Markson is very familiar with.
"That's my AAU buddy, that's my man," Markson said. "We played against each other in high school and in AAU games."
Markson has known Adams since their sophomore seasons in high school when Markson recalls, painfully, how Adams made a dunk in the final seconds to beat his team. Last year, Adams also got the better of Markson with a win in Arizona thanks in part to a memorable rebound dunk in the final two minutes to put the Wildcats up by four points.
Today, Markson will be guarding Adams ("I always take the best player," he said) and trying to keep him off the offensive boards in particular.
Adams was questionable for the game earlier in the week after being cited for not cooperating with police after an incident near his apartment last weekend. However, Olson compared it to getting a traffic ticket and said Adams would play.
Other starters for the Wildcats include Ivan Radenovic, a 6-10 forward, who scored 14 in last year's Utah-Arizona game; center Kirk Walters (7.0 ppg), and guards Chris Rodgers (10.3 ppg) and Mustafa Shakur (9.7 ppg).
One of the reasons the Wildcats are only 4-3 this year after starting the season in the top 10 is their field goal shooting, which is just more than 40 percent per game. Olson feels like once his team starts shooting better it will be just fine.
"They shoot it better than we do, but we shoot it more," he said. "We need to start making our shots. Our defense is as good as anyone in the country."
Although exam week cut a little practice time for Utah this week, U. coach Ray Giacoletti was happy to get extra time in with no other games.
"It was good for us to have five days of practice," Giacoletti said. "When you have a lot of games, you don't have the chance to try to get better. This is a great opportunity for us. It's not often you get a chance to play a top-20 team."
The Utes will start Markson and Shaun Green at forwards, Chris Jackson in the middle and Johnnie Bryant and Lawrence Borha at the guards.
Olson is very aware of the homecourt advantage the Utes have with a 21-game home winning streak, the fifth-longest in the nation.
In previous appearances at the Huntsman Center, Olson's Wildcats beat Utah 88-81 in 1993 and lost 76-68 in 1985. Olson's Wildcats also suffered a 64-61 loss to Santa Clara in the 1993 NCAA tournament at the Huntsman Center, one of the handful of losses in NCAA history by a No. 2 seed.
After today's game, the Utes have two more games before Christmas, Monday night against Adams State and Thursday against Washington State in Seattle at Key Arena. After Christmas there is one game Dec. 28 against High Point before the start of Mountain West Conference play a week later.