Utah basketball finalizes non-conference schedule

The non-conference schedule for the Utah Runnin’ Utes was released on Thursday by head coach Larry Krystkowiak.

Non-conference match ups include six home contests, trips to both Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Lexington, Kentucky, as well as the Utes playing in the Wooden Legacy Classic in Fullerton, California.

Overall, Utah will face a pair of potential top-five ranked teams and could face as many as four teams from last season’s NCAA Tournament.

Coach Krystkowiak said the Utes will have a challenging schedule.

“I believe our program is at a place where we are up for the challenge and we are all very motivated to play such a grueling non-conference schedule. Obviously, the Pac-12 Conference is quite demanding and this will certainly help us get prepared for league play. This is what we signed up for and we look forward to the task in front of us,” said Krystkowiak.

The Utes will then open the 2018-19 campaign with a home contest against Maine on Thursday, November, 8.

The complete 2018-19 schedule, including Pac-12 Conference contests, along with television times and dates will be released later this fall.

The Utes are coming off a 23-12 campaign in 2017-18, where they were picked to finish seventh in the Pac-12, but finished in third-place with a mark of 11-7. Utah earned an at-large bid into the NIT and made its way to the NIT Championship game for the third time in school history.

Here’s the complete schedule from UtahUtes.com:

Nov 1: College of Idaho
Nov 8: Main
Nov 12: @ Minnesota
Nov 15: Mississippi Valley State
Nov 22: Hawaii (Wooden Legacy Tournament)
Nov 23: Grand Canyon/Seton Hall (Wooden Legacy Tournament)
Nov 25: TBA (Wooden Legacy Tournament)
Dec 1: Tulsa
Dec 8: BYU (@ Vivint Smart Home Arena)
Dec 15: @ Kentucky
Dec 17: Florida A&M
Dec 21: Northern Arizona
Dec 29: Nevada