# 2015–16 Utah Utes men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Utah Runnin' Utes men's basketball team represented the University of Utah during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They played their home games at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City as members of the Pac-12 Conference. The Utes were led by fifth year head coach Larry Krystkowiak. They the season 27–9, 13-5 in Pac-12 play to finish in second place. They defeated USC and California to advance to the championship game of the Pac-12 tournament where they lost to Oregon. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Fresno State in the first round to advance to the second round where they lost to Gonzaga.

## Previous season

The 2014–15 Utah Utes finished the season 26–9, 13–5 in the Pac-12, to finish in a tie for second place. In the Pac-12 tournament, the Utes made it to the semifinals where they lost to Oregon. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a 5-seed where they defeated Stephen F. Austin in the second round, and Georgetown in the third round to advance to the Sweet Sixteen where they lost to Duke.

## Off-season
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Dallin Bachynski | 31 | C | 7'0" | 265 | Senior | Calgary, Alberta | Graduated |
| Delon Wright | 55 | G | 6'5" | 190 | Senior | Los Angeles, California | Graduated/2015 NBA draft |
| Jeremy Olsen | 41 | C | 6'10" | 240 | RS Junior | Lawrenceville, Georgia | Retired from basketball for medical reasons |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Lorenzo Bonam | 15 | G | 6'4" | 215 | Junior | Inkster, Michigan | Junior college transfer from Gillette College. |
| Gabe Bealer | 30 | G/F | 6'5" | 180 | Junior | Lancaster, California | Junior college transfer from City College of San Francisco. |

### 2015 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Makol Mawien C/F | West Valley City, Utah | Granger HS | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Aug 7, 2014 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2015 Utah Basketball Commitment List". Rivals.com. Retrieved April 2, 2015. "Utah Utes 2015 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 2, 2015. "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved April 2, 2015. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| Nov. 5* 6:00 PM, P12N | No. 16 | Cal State Monterey Bay | W 124–70 | – | 20 – Taylor | 10 – Tied | 6 – Wright | Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| Nov. 13* 7:30 PM, P12N | No. 16 | Southern Utah Old Oquirrh Bucket | W 82–71 | 1–0 | 26 – Poeltl | 12 – Kuzma | 5 – Tied | Jon M. Huntsman Center (12,050) Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Nov. 16* 7:30 PM, ESPN2 | No. 16 | San Diego State College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon | W 81–76 | 2–0 | 21 – Loveridge | 12 – Poeltl | 3 – Bonam | Jon M. Huntsman Center (13,587) Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Nov. 19* 5:00 PM, ESPN2 | No. 16 | vs. Texas Tech Puerto Rico Tip-Off quarterfinals | W 73–63 | 3–0 | 20 – Bonam | 9 – Poeltl | 4 – Tied | Roberto Clemente Coliseum (1,947) San Juan, PR |
| Nov. 20* 5:00 PM, ESPNU | No. 16 | vs. Miami (FL) Puerto Rico Tip-Off semifinals | L 66–90 | 3–1 | 18 – Loveridge | 6 – Poeltl | 4 – Chapman | Roberto Clemente Coliseum (2,001) San Juan, PR |
| Nov. 22* 2:30 PM, ESPNU | No. 16 | vs. Temple Puerto Rico Tip-Off 3rd place game | W 74–68 | 4–1 | 32 – Poeltl | 11 – Poeltl | 3 – Tied | Roberto Clemente Coliseum (5,309) San Juan, PR |
| Nov. 27* 7:00 PM, P12N | | Idaho State | W 102–72 | 5–1 | 19 – Poeltl | 12 – Kuzma | 4 – Loveridge | Jon M. Huntsman Center (13,185) Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Dec. 2* 8:00 PM, P12N | | BYU Old Oquirrh Bucket/Deseret First Duel | W 83–75 | 6–1 | 26 – Poeltl | 13 – Poeltl | 9 – Taylor | Jon M. Huntsman Center (15,131) Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Dec. 5* 12:00 PM, P12N | | IPFW | W 96–79 | 7–1 | 21 – Poeltl | 8 – Kuzma | 6 – Poeltl | Jon M. Huntsman Center (12,241) Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Dec. 12* 1:30 PM, ESPN2 | No. 25 | at Wichita State | L 50–67 | 7–2 | 11 – Poeltl | 9 – Poeltl | 3 – Taylor | Intrust Bank Arena (15,004) Wichita, Kansas |
| Dec. 16* 6:00 PM, P12N | | Savannah State | W 99–53 | 8–2 | 18 – Kuzma | 7 – Tied | 7 – Bonam | Jon M. Huntsman Center (11,911) Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Dec. 19* 10:00 AM, ESPN | | vs. No. 7 Duke Madison Square Garden Showcase | W 77–75 $^{OT}$ | 9–2 | 21 – Kuzma | 14 – Poeltl | 9 – Bonam | Madison Square Garden (13,174) New York City, New York |
| Dec. 22* 7:00 PM, P12N | No. 24 | Delaware State | W 105–58 | 10–2 | 15 – Kuzma | 7 – Tied | 6 – Tied | Jon M. Huntsman Center (12,041) Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Dec. 28* 7:00 PM, P12N | No. 21 | College of Idaho | W 115–74 | 11–2 | 17 – Tied | 9 – Poeltl | 5 – Wright | Jon M. Huntsman Center (12,329) Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Pac-12 regular season |||||||||
| Jan. 1 7:00 PM, ESPNU | No. 21 | at Stanford | L 68–70 $^{OT}$ | 11–3 (0–1) | 16 – Poeltl | 12 – Kuzma | 5 – Bonam | Maples Pavilion (4,065) Stanford, California |
| Jan. 3 5:30 PM, P12N | No. 21 | at California | L 58–71 | 11–4 (0–2) | 19 – Poeltl | 10 – Poeltl | 5 – Taylor | Haas Pavilion (10,188) Berkeley, California |
| Jan. 8 7:00 PM, FS1 | | at Colorado | W 56–54 | 12–4 (1–2) | 17 – Bonam | 11 – Poeltl | 3 – Bonam | Coors Events Center (8,701) Boulder, Colorado |
| Jan. 14 8:00 PM, P12N | | Oregon | L 59–77 | 12–5 (1–3) | 12 – Taylor | 7 – Poeltl | 4 – Wright | Jon M. Huntsman Center (12,733) Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Jan. 17 6:30 PM, ESPNU | | Oregon State | W 59–53 | 13–5 (2–3) | 15 – Poeltl | 9 – Kuzma | 4 – Taylor | Jon M. Huntsman Center (12,417) Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Jan. 21 9:00 PM, FS1 | | at Washington State | W 92–71 | 14–5 (3–3) | 22 – Loveridge | 6 – Reyes | 5 – Poeltl | Beasley Coliseum (2,717) Pullman, Washington |
| Jan. 24 7:30 PM, ESPNU | | at Washington | W 80–75 $^{OT}$ | 15–5 (4–3) | 29 – Poeltl | 10 – Tied | 4 – Poeltl | Alaska Airlines Arena (8,073) Seattle, Washington |
| Jan. 27 9:00 PM, ESPNU | | California | W 73–64 | 16–5 (5–3) | 21 – Poeltl | 9 – Poeltl | 6 – Tied | Jon M. Huntsman Center (13,055) Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Jan. 30 3:00 PM, P12N | | Stanford | W 96–74 | 17–5 (6–3) | 23 – Poeltl | 7 – Tied | 5 – Bonam | Jon M. Huntsman Center (14,109) Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Feb. 4 9:00 PM, ESPNU | | at Oregon State | L 69–71 | 17–6 (6–4) | 20 – Poeltl | 9 – Poeltl | 4 – Taylor | Gill Coliseum (5,242) Corvallis, Oregon |
| Feb. 7 2:00 PM, ESPN2 | | at No. 16 Oregon | L 66–76 | 17–7 (6–5) | 18 – Kuzma | 10 – Loveridge | 3 – Tied | Matthew Knight Arena (6,807) Eugene, Oregon |
| Feb. 10 7:00 PM, ESPN2 | | Washington | W 90–82 | 18–7 (7–5) | 23 – Poeltl | 6 – Poeltl | 7 – Kuzma | Jon M. Huntsman Center (12,616) Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Feb. 14 1:00 PM, P12N | | Washington State | W 88–47 | 19–7 (8–5) | 25 – Poeltl | 10 – Poeltl | 5 – Wright | Jon M. Huntsman Center (11,646) Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Feb. 18 8:00 PM, ESPN2 | | at UCLA | W 75–73 | 20–7 (9–5) | 17 – Loveridge | 11 – Poeltl | 7 – Taylor | Pauley Pavilion (7,249) Los Angeles, California |
| Feb. 21 4:00 PM, P12N | | at USC | W 80–69 | 21–7 (10–5) | 29 – Poeltl | 13 – Poeltl | 10 – Taylor | Galen Center (7,931) Los Angeles, California |
| Feb. 25 7:00 PM, P12N | No. 22 | Arizona State | W 81–46 | 22–7 (11–5) | 15 – Chapman | 9 – Chapman | 4 – Taylor | Jon M. Huntsman Center (12,523) Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Feb. 27 12:00 PM, ESPN | No. 22 | No. 9 Arizona | W 70–64 | 23–7 (12–5) | 19 – Taylor | 10 – Poeltl | 3 – Chapman | Jon M. Huntsman Center (15,508) Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Mar. 5 7:30 PM, ESPNU | No. 13 | Colorado | W 57–55 | 24–7 (13–5) | 16 – Poeltl | 8 – Poeltl | 4 – Taylor | Jon M. Huntsman Center (15,000) Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Pac-12 Tournament |||||||||
| Mar. 10 7:00 PM, P12N | (2) No. 12 | vs. (7) USC Quarterfinals | W 80–72 | 25–7 | 23 – Kuzma | 8 – Poeltl | 6 – Loveridge | MGM Grand Garden Arena (12,916) Paradise, Nevada |
| Mar. 11 9:30 PM, FS1 | (2) No. 12 | vs. (3) No. 24 California Semifinals | W 82–78 $^{OT}$ | 26–7 | 29 – Poeltl | 11 – Proeltl | 3 – Bonam | MGM Grand Garden Arena (12,916) Paradise, Nevada |
| Mar. 12 7:00 PM, FS1 | (2) No. 12 | vs. (1) No. 8 Oregon Championship | L 57–88 | 26–8 | 13 – Peltl | 5 – Kuzma | 3 – Loveridge | MGM Grand Garden Arena (12,916) Paradise, Nevada |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| Mar. 17* 5:27 PM, truTV | (3 MW) No. 13 | vs. (14 MW) Fresno State First Round | W 80–69 | 27–8 | 17 – Bonam | 18 – Poeltl | 6 – Taylor | Pepsi Center (19,500) Denver, Colorado |
| Mar. 19* 6:40 PM, TNT | (3 MW) No. 13 | vs. (11 MW) Gonzaga Second Round | L 59–82 | 27–9 | 15 – Kuzma | 4 – Tied | 4 – Taylor | Pepsi Center (19,551) Denver, Colorado |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest Region. All times are in Mountain Time. |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movement Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. RV=Received votes. NV= Received no votes. :
| Poll | Pre | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 | Wk 18 | Post | Final |
| AP | 16 | 16 | RV | RV | 25 | RV | 24 | 21 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 22 | 13 | 12 | 13 | N/A |
| Coaches | 16 | 16 | RV | RV | 24 | RV | RV | 22 | RV | RV | NV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 23 | 13 | 12 | 14 | 20 |