The Utes are looking to bounce back after a pretty poor effort last night against Hawaii. The Utes did battle back from a 20 point deficit to cut the lead to single digits, but they just couldn’t get over the hump. The question a lot of us have is what kind of lineup will we see tonight? Many of us are wanting to see a smaller, faster lineup, because that’s the type of lineup we saw fight back in the game last night. Utah really needs to be better on both sides of the ball, because they were not good last night. I want to see Hendrix, Allen, Tillman, Battin and another guard being sued in and out for much of the game. Go small, go fast Coach K.
More about Grand Canyon per the official press release from the Utah Athletic Department and UtahUtes.com:
Grand Canyon, who is coached by former NBA All-Star Dan Majerle, is 3-2 overall on the season and is coming off an 82-75 loss to Seton Hall in the opening round of the Wooden Legacy. The Lopes drained 11 three-pointers in Thursday’s loss to the Pirates, but Seton Hall managed to make 20 of its 33 free throw attempts and limited GCU to just 16 free throw attempts overall.
The Lopes came into the Wooden Legacy 3-1 overall and had won three straight after opening the season with a road-loss to South Dakota State. GCU had been defeating the opposition by an average of nearly 28 points per game over the course of its mini three-game winning streak.
Alessandro Lever leads the team with 13.6 points per game, while both Trey Drechsel (10.6) and Michael Finke (10.0) average double-digit scoring efforts, as well.
UTAH VS. GRAND CANYON SERIES HISTORY
Utah and Grand Canyon will meet for just the third time when they face each other on Friday. This marks the first game the two teams have played since Utah defeated the Lopes, 79-54, back on Nov. 21, 2013, in Salt Lake City. The Utes won the first-ever meeting between the two teams, 72-48, back on Nov. 12, 2010, at the Huntsman Center. This will mark the first neutral court contest between the Utes and Lopes.
GAME 5: Utah (2-2) vs. Grand Canyon (3-2)
WHERE: Fullerton, Calif. (Titan Gym)
WHEN: Friday, Nov. 23, 2018
TIP-OFF: 6 p.m. PT
TELEVISION: ESPN3 / WatchESPN
RADIO: ESPN700