Utah Utes guard Rylan Jones (15) and Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Marcus Carr (5) collide during the second half of an NCAA men’s basketball game at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 15, 2019. | Colter Peterson, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY — When the Utah basketball team competes this weekend at the Myrtle Beach Invitational, it will be trying to accomplish something that no other Ute team in history has accomplished — win an eight-team bracketed preseason tournament.
That’s a mouthful, but outside of winning a few four-team tournaments or some postseason conference tournaments, the Utes have never won an eight-team in-season event in nearly two dozen tries going back to 1956 when such tourneys became popular.
That’s surprising considering some of the outstanding teams the Utes have fielded over the years under coaches Jack Gardner, Jerry Pimm and Rick Majerus.
Under Gardner, the Utes went to nine tournaments, but they never did better than second place at the 1964 Los Angeles Classic, where they lost to eventual national champion UCLA in the finals.
Under Majerus, the Utes played in four 8-team tournaments, three in the Maui Invitational, where their best finish was third in 1998.
Since Larry Krystkowiak became coach, the Utes have played in four eight-team tournaments, finishing last in the Battle 4 Atlantis in 2011, fourth in the Puerto Rico Shootout in 2015, fifth in the Diamond Head Classic in 2016 and sixth in the Wooden Legacy last year.
“It’s not easy; only one out of eight teams can win it,” said Krystkowiak about the difficulty of winning an eight-team event. “Things have to line up pretty well for you to win a tournament, and we’ll see what we’re made of.”
Krystkowiak said he likes his teams to play in such tournaments.
“This is a good event, a little bit of a simulation of what might happen in the Pac-12 tournament,” he said. “I’m a big fan of them; we’re in one every year.”
The Utes will open the tournament Thursday at 5 p.m. Mountain time against Coastal Carolina, which is the host team at the 3,370-seat HTC Recreation Center in Conway, South Carolina. Depending on the outcome of Thursday’s game, the Utes will play either Baylor or Ohio — at 3 p.m. Mountain time if they win or 5:30 p.m. Mountain time if they lose.
The Chanticleers have five players averaging in double figures, led by Tyrell Gumbs-Frater at 16.3 ppg and followed by DeVante Jones at 15.0 ppg. Keishawn Brewton averages 14.8 ppg, while Garrick Green scored 11.3 ppg and Ebrima Dibba is at 11.0 ppg. Gumbs-Frater shoots 59.0 from the field, while Green is the leading rebounder at 11.3 rpg.
“They look like a really athletic team. They’ve got a bunch of athleticism and guys that can score,” said Krystkowiak. “They’ve run a lot of different defensive looks in the four games that they’ve played, so it’s not easy to predict what they’re going to do.”
The Utes come into the game at 3-0 with close wins at Nevada and at home against Minnesota, with a record 94-point blowout against Mississippi Valley State sandwiched in between.
Sophomore forward Timmy Allen leads the Utes at 22.7 ppg, which is good for 17th in the nation, while shooting 59.5% from the field. Both Gach is averaging 17.7 ppg on 52.9% shooting, while Riley Battin, the third sophomore in Utah’s starting lineup, averages 12.3 on 54.2% shooting.
The other expected starters are freshman guard Rylan Jones (9.7 ppg, 8.3 apg) and freshman center Branden Carlson (8.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg). Freshman Jaxon Brenchley — who has made five of his seven 3-point shots this year — guard Alfonso Plummer (10.5 ppg) and forward Mikael Jantunen (3.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg) are the top reserves.
The other half of the bracket features No. 17 Villanova, which plays Middle Tennessee State, and Mississippi State and Tulane in the other game. The final games will be played Sunday at times to be determined.
After this weekend’s tournament, the Utes return home for three straight home games, beginning Nov. 29 against UC-Davis.
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