Two teams that combined for 11 wins last season will try to get started on a better path Friday when Utah hosts Division III team Willamette. The Utes return only two players who recorded significant minutes – senior center Jason Washburn and senior wing Cedric Martin. They’ll have more size, however. Washburn was the only available player taller than 6 feet 7 on last seasonâ??s team, but this year Utah has four. Willamette has three returning starters, led by senior guard Terrell Malley, the teamâ??s second leading scorer last season (12.2) who averaged double figures in scoring in each of his first three seasons at the school.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network
ABOUT WILLAMETTE (2011-12: 5-20): The other returning starters for the Bearcats are Sean Dart, a 6-6 senior post player, and junior point guard Trevor Bos. Dart is shooting nearly 65 percent from the field through his first two seasons at Willamette. The Bearcats are also expecting contributions from Elliot Babcock-Krenk, a 6-4 senior wing who transferred from Humboldt State. Babcock-Krenk scored 21 points Saturday in an exhibition against a team of Willamette alumni.
ABOUT UTAH (2011-12: 6-25): For the second consecutive season, the Utes were picked to finish last in the Pac-12 Conference. Larry Krystkowiak, in his second season as coach, landed the stateâ??s most sought-after recruit, 6-6 freshman forward Jordan Loveridge. He also inherited athletic 7-foot center Dallin Bachynski, who played a season at Southern Utah before serving a two-year LDS mission, and senior guard Jarred DuBois, previously a three-year starter at Loyola Marymount.
TIP INS
1. Aaron Dotson, an LSU transfer who was projected to be Utahâ??s starting small forward, will be sidelined for another month after suffering a stress fracture in his foot. Martin and Dakari Tucker, a 6-6 freshman, are expected to see increased playing time.
2. Another new addition to the Utah roster is junior point guard Glen Dean, the Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year while playing for Eastern Washington in 2009-10. He led the team in points and assists for two years before sitting out last season under NCAA transfer rules.
3. David Foster, a 7-3 center for Utah who missed all of last season with a broken foot, suffered a similar injury this fall and called it quits for his career. Foster, a former Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year, is the programâ??s all-time blocked shots leader with 219.
PREDICTION: Utah 55, Willamette 45
