# 2018–19 Utah Utes men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Utah Runnin' Utes men's basketball team represented the University of Utah during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team, led by eighth-year head coach Larry Krystkowiak, played their home games at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah as members of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished the season 17–14, 11–7 in Pac-12 play to finish in third place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament to Oregon.

## Previous season

The Utes finished the 2017–18 season 23–12, 11–7 in Pac-12 play to finish in a three-way tie for third place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament to Oregon. They were invited to the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated UC Davis, LSU, Saint Mary's, and Western Kentucky to advance to the championship game. In the NIT championship, they were routed by Penn State, losing 82–66.

## Off-season
### Departures

| Name | Num | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Justin Bibbins | 1 | G | 5'8" | 150 | Senior | Carson, CA | Graduated |
| Kolbe Caldwell | 2 | G | 6'5" | 205 | Sophomore | Bowling Green, KY | Transferred |
| Jake Connor | 10 | G | 6'3" | 181 | RS Junior | Salt Lake City, UT | Transferred to Westminster |
| Chris Seeley | 11 | F | 6'8" | 215 | Sophomore | Fresno, CA | Transferred to Fresno State |
| David Collette | 13 | F | 6'10" | 220 | Senior | Murray, UT | Graduated |
| Nate Duda | 15 | G | 6'5" | 190 | Sophomore | Framingham, MA | Left team |
| Tyler Rawson | 21 | F | 6'10" | 225 | Senior | American Fork, UT | Graduated |
| Gabe Bealer | 30 | G/F | 6'6" | 183 | Senior | San Francisco, CA | Graduated |
| Jakub Jokl | 43 | F | 6'11' | 230 | Sophomore | Havlíčkův Brod, Czech Republic | Left team |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Num | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Charles Jones Jr. | 1 | G | 6'2" | 200 | Junior | Portland, OR | College of Southern Idaho. |
| Novak Topalovic | 13 | C | 7'0" | 230 | RS Senior | Niš, Serbia | Idaho State |

### 2018 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Riley Battin #26 C | Oak Park, CA | Oak Park High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 235 lb (107 kg) | Sep 21, 2017 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| Timmy Allen #22 PF | Mesa, AZ | Desert Ridge High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Sep 18, 2017 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| Naseem Gaskin #55 SG | Oakland, CA | Bishop O'Dowd High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 235 lb (107 kg) | Sep 13, 2017 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 70 ||||||
| Lahat Thioune PF | Melbourne, FL | Florida Air Academy | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Apr 11, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ||||||
| Both Gach SF | Austin, MN | Az Compass Prep School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Jun 1, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ||||||
| 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: "2018 Utah Basketball Commitment List". Rivals.com. "Utah Utes 2018 Player Commits". ESPN.com. "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

### 2019 recruiting class

College recruiting information (2019) :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Rylan Jones PG | Logan, UT | Logan High School | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | 150 lb (68 kg) | Aug 8, 2017 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 83 |||||||
| Matt Van Komen C | Lehi, UT | Pleasant Grove High School | 7 ft 4 in (2.24 m) | 150 lb (68 kg) | Jul 30, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 82 |||||||
| Mikael Jantunen PF | Helsinki, Finland | Helsinki Basketball Academy | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Oct 8, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Brendan Wenzel SG | Helotes, TX | O'Connor High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Apr 18, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| 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: "2019 Utah Basketball Commitment List". Rivals.com. "Utah Utes 2019 Player Commits". ESPN.com. "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 1, 2018* 7:00 pm, P12N | | College of Idaho | W 96–76 | – | Jon M. Huntsman Center (10,244) Salt Lake City, UT |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 8, 2018* 7:00 pm, P12N | | Maine | W 75–61 | 1–0 | Jon M. Huntsman Center (10,971) Salt Lake City, UT |
| November 12, 2018* 7:00 pm, BTN | | at Minnesota | L 69–78 | 1–1 | Williams Arena (11,554) Minneapolis, MN |
| November 15, 2018* 6:00 pm, P12N | | Mississippi Valley State | W 98–63 | 2–1 | Jon M. Huntsman Center (10,804) Salt Lake City, UT |
| November 22, 2018* 9:30 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. Hawaii Wooden Legacy quarterfinals | L 79–90 | 2–2 | Titan Gym (2,132) Fullerton, CA |
| November 23, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | vs. Grand Canyon Wooden Legacy Consolation 2nd round | W 75–66 | 3–2 | Titan Gym Fullerton, CA |
| November 25, 2018* 12:00 pm, ESPNU | | vs. Northwestern Wooden Legacy 5th place game | L 57–79 | 3–3 | Titan Gym Fullerton, CA |
| December 1, 2018* 3:00 pm, P12N | | Tulsa | W 69–64 | 4–3 | Jon M. Huntsman Center (10,775) Salt Lake City, UT |
| December 8, 2018* 12:00 pm, ESPNU | | vs. BYU Rivalry/Beehive Classic | L 59–74 | 4–4 | Vivint Smart Home Arena Salt Lake City, UT |
| December 15, 2018* 3:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at No. 19 Kentucky | L 61–88 | 4–5 | Rupp Arena (21,922) Lexington, KY |
| December 17, 2018* 6:00 pm, P12N | | Florida A&M | W 93–64 | 5–5 | Jon M. Huntsman Center (10,887) Salt Lake City, UT |
| December 21, 2018* 7:00 pm, P12N | | Northern Arizona | W 76–62 | 6–5 | Jon M. Huntsman Center (11,239) Salt Lake City, UT |
| December 29, 2018* 12:00 pm, P12N | | No. 6 Nevada | L 71–86 | 6–6 | Jon M. Huntsman Center (12,835) Salt Lake City, UT |
| Pac-12 regular season ||||||
| January 3, 2019 6:00 pm, P12N | | at Arizona State | W 96–86 | 7–6 (1–0) | Wells Fargo Arena (9,128) Temple, AZ |
| January 5, 2019 12:00 pm, P12N | | at Arizona | L 81–84 $^{OT}$ | 7–7 (1–1) | McKale Center (13,764) Tucson, AZ |
| January 10, 2019 8:00 pm, FS1 | | Washington | L 53–69 | 7–8 (1–2) | Jon M. Huntsman Center (10,481) Salt Lake City, UT |
| January 12, 2019 6:30 pm, P12N | | Washington State | W 88–70 | 8–8 (2–2) | Jon M. Huntsman Center (11,358) Salt Lake City, UT |
| January 20, 2019 4:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Colorado | W 78–69 | 9–8 (3–2) | CU Events Center (10,372) Boulder, CO |
| January 24, 2019 7:00 pm, P12N | | at Stanford | W 70–66 | 10–8 (4–2) | Maples Pavilion (3,279) Stanford, CA |
| January 26, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPNU | | at California | W 82–64 | 11–8 (5–2) | Haas Pavilion (6,218) Berkeley, CA |
| January 31, 2019 7:00 pm, FS1 | | Oregon | L 72–78 | 11–9 (5–3) | Jon M. Huntsman Center (11,301) Salt Lake City, UT |
| February 2, 2019 3:00 pm, P12N | | Oregon State | L 72–81 | 11–10 (5–4) | Jon M. Huntsman Center (11,884) Salt Lake City, UT |
| February 6, 2019 9:00 pm, P12N | | at USC | W 77–70 | 12–10 (6–4) | Galen Center (2,952) Los Angeles, CA |
| February 9, 2019 3:00 pm, FOX | | at UCLA | W 93–92 | 13–10 (7–4) | Pauley Pavilion (7,268) Los Angeles, CA |
| February 14, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | Arizona | W 83–76 | 14–10 (8–4) | Jon M. Huntsman Center (11,478) Salt Lake City, UT |
| February 16, 2019 8:30 pm, FS1 | | Arizona State | L 87–98 | 14–11 (8–5) | Jon M. Huntsman Center (12,585) Salt Lake City, UT |
| February 20, 2019 9:00 pm, FS1 | | at Washington | L 45–62 | 14–12 (8–6) | Alaska Airlines Arena (8,268) Seattle, WA |
| February 23, 2019 6:00 pm, P12N | | at Washington State | W 92–79 | 15–12 (9–6) | Beasley Coliseum (3,199) Pullman, WA |
| March 2, 2019 4:00 pm, ESPNU | | Colorado | L 63–71 | 15–13 (9–7) | Jon M. Huntsman Center (8,405) Salt Lake City, UT |
| March 7, 2019 8:00 pm, FS1 | | USC | W 83–74 | 16–13 (10–7) | Jon M. Huntsman Center (11,007) Salt Lake City, UT |
| March 8, 2019 4:00 pm, P12N | | UCLA | W 92–81 | 17–13 (11–7) | Jon M. Huntsman Center (12,914) Salt Lake City, UT |
| Pac-12 tournament ||||||
| March 14, 2019 9:30 pm, ESPN | (3) | vs. (6) Oregon Quarterfinals | L 54–66 | 17–14 | T-Mobile Arena (13,012) Paradise, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. ||||||