# 2019–20 Utah Utes men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Utah Runnin' Utes men's basketball team represented the University of Utah during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by ninth-year head coach Larry Krystkowiak. They 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 16–15, 7–11 in Pac-12 play to finish in a three-way tie for eighth place. They lost in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament to Oregon State.

## Previous season

The Utes finished the 2018–19 season 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.

## Off-season

On August 6, 2019, the NCAA placed the Utes on two years probation due to impermissible recruiting activities in April 2018.

### Departures

| Name | Num | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Naseem Gaskin | 0 | G | 6'3" | 175 | Freshman | Oakland, CA | Transferred to Montana |
| Charles Jones Jr. | 1 | G | 6'2" | 200 | Junior | Portland, OR | Transferred to Portland State |
| Sedrick Barefield | 2 | G | 6'2" | 190 | Senior | Corona, CA | Graduated |
| Donnie Tillman | 3 | F | 6'7" | 225 | Sophomore | Detroit, MI | Transferred to UNLV |
| Parker Van Dyke | 5 | G | 6'3' | 185 | RS Senior | Salt Lake City, UT | Graduated |
| Christian Popoola | 10 | G | 6'4" | 190 | Sophomore | Las Vegas, NV | Transferred to Salt Lake CC |
| Novak Topalovic | 13 | F | 7'0" | 230 | RS Senior | Niš, Serbia | Graduated |
| Vante Hendrix | 14 | G | 6'5" | 190 | RS Freshman | Woodland Hills, CA | Mid season transferred to New Mexico |
| Kevin Kremer | 15 | G | 6'4" | 190 | Freshman | Chico, CA | Walk-on; transferred to Chaminade |
| Beau Rydalch | 25 | G | 6'6" | 205 | Junior | Oakley, UT | Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons |
| Brandon Morley | 31 | F/C | 7'0" | 235 | Junior | South Jordan, UT | Walk-on; graduate transferred to Utah Valley |
| Jayce Johnson | 34 | F/C | 7'0" | 235 | RS Junior | Mission Viejo, CA | Graduate transferred to Marquette |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Num | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Alfonso Plummer | 25 | G | 6'1" | 175 | Junior | Fajardo, PR | Arizona Western College |

### 2019 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| 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. ||||||

### 2020 recruiting class

College recruiting information (2020) :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Ian Martinez SG | San Juan Capistrano, CA | J. Serra Catholic High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | May 29, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: 0 |||||||
| Mason Falslev SG | Smithfield, UT | Sky View High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Jul 28, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: 0 |||||||
| 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: "2020 Utah Basketball Commitment List". Rivals.com. "Utah Utes 2020 Player Commits". ESPN.com. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. |||||||

## Regular season

On November 8, the Utes defeated Mississippi Valley State 143–49 to set an NCAA record for largest margin of victory (94 points) over a Division I opponent.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| October 30, 2019* 6:30 pm, P12N | | UT Tyler | W 88–47 | | Jon M. Huntsman Center (7,994) Salt Lake City, UT |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 5, 2019* 8:30 pm, CBSSN | | at Nevada | W 79–74 | 1–0 | Lawlor Events Center (8,324) Reno, NV |
| November 8, 2019* 7:00 pm, P12N | | Mississippi Valley State | W 143–49 | 2–0 | Jon M. Huntsman Center (9,926) Salt Lake City, UT |
| November 15, 2019* 7:00 pm, P12N | | Minnesota | W 73–69 | 3–0 | Jon M. Huntsman Center (12,760) Salt Lake City, UT |
| November 21, 2019* 5:00 pm, ESPNews | | at Coastal Carolina Myrtle Beach Invitational quarterfinals | L 57–79 | 3–1 | HTC Center (2,269) Conway, SC |
| November 22, 2019* 5:30 pm, ESPNews | | vs. Ohio Myrtle Beach Invitational 2nd round consolation | W 80–66 | 4–1 | HTC Center (1,921) Conway, SC |
| November 24, 2019* 8:30 am, ESPNU | | vs. Tulane Myrtle Beach Invitational 5th place game | L 61–65 | 4–2 | HTC Center (3,212) Conway, SC |
| November 29, 2019* 7:00 pm, P12N | | UC Davis | W 77–73 | 5–2 | Jon M. Huntsman Center (10,546) Salt Lake City, UT |
| December 4, 2019* 6:00 pm, P12N | | BYU Rivalry/Old Oquirrh Bucket | W 102–95 $^{OT}$ | 6–2 | Jon M. Huntsman Center (11,565) Salt Lake City, UT |
| December 7, 2019* 3:00 pm, P12N | | Central Arkansas | W 98–67 | 7–2 | Jon M. Huntsman Center (9,888) Salt Lake City, UT |
| December 14, 2019* 2:00 pm, P12N | | vs. Weber State Old Oquirrh Bucket/Beehive Classic | W 60–49 | 8–2 | Vivint Smart Home Arena Salt Lake City, UT |
| December 18, 2019* 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. No. 6 Kentucky Neon Hoops Showcase | W 69–66 | 9–2 | T-Mobile Arena (5,507) Paradise, NV |
| December 21, 2019* 4:30 pm, P12N | | vs. No. 20 San Diego State Basketball Hall of Fame Classic | L 52–80 | 9–3 | Staples Center (8,296) Los Angeles, CA |
| Pac-12 regular season ||||||
| January 2, 2020 6:30 pm, P12N | | Oregon State | W 81–69 | 10–3 (1–0) | Jon M. Huntsman Center (9,579) Salt Lake City, UT |
| January 4, 2020 3:00 pm, P12N | | No. 4 Oregon | L 64–69 | 10–4 (1–1) | Jon M. Huntsman Center (13,104) Salt Lake City, UT |
| January 12, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPNU | | at No. 25 Colorado | L 52–91 | 10–5 (1–2) | CU Events Center (8,017) Boulder, CO |
| January 16, 2020 6:30 pm, P12N | | at Arizona | L 77–93 | 10–6 (1–3) | McKale Center (13,549) Tucson, AZ |
| January 18, 2020 7:00 pm, P12N | | at Arizona State | L 64–83 | 10–7 (1–4) | Desert Financial Arena (9,608) Tempe, AZ |
| January 23, 2020 6:00 pm, P12N | | Washington | W 67–66 | 11–7 (2–4) | Jon M. Huntsman Center (9,396) Salt Lake City, UT |
| January 25, 2020 5:00 pm, P12N | | Washington State | W 76–64 | 12–7 (3–4) | Jon M. Huntsman Center (9,807) Salt Lake City, UT |
| January 30, 2020 7:30 pm, FS1 | | at USC | L 52–56 | 12–8 (3–5) | Galen Center (4,478) Los Angeles, CA |
| February 2, 2020 1:00 pm, FS1 | | at UCLA | L 57–73 | 12–9 (3–6) | Pauley Pavilion (4,497) Los Angeles, CA |
| February 6, 2020 8:00 pm, P12N | | Stanford | W 64–56 | 13–9 (4–6) | Jon M. Huntsman Center (10,049) Salt Lake City, UT |
| February 8, 2020 6:00 pm, P12N | | California | W 60–45 | 14–9 (5–6) | Jon M. Huntsman Center (10,766) Salt Lake City, UT |
| February 13, 2020 7:00 pm, P12N | | at Oregon State | L 51–70 | 14–10 (5–7) | Gill Coliseum (4,118) Corvallis, OR |
| February 16, 2020 7:00 pm, FS1 | | at No. 17 Oregon | L 62–80 | 14–11 (5–8) | Matthew Knight Arena (8,542) Eugene, OR |
| February 20, 2020 8:30 pm, FS1 | | UCLA | L 58–69 | 14–12 (5–9) | Jon M. Huntsman Center (9,815) Salt Lake City, UT |
| February 23, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPNU | | USC | W 79–65 | 15–12 (6–9) | Jon M. Huntsman Center (9,765) Salt Lake City, UT |
| February 26, 2020 8:00 pm, P12N | | at Stanford | L 62–70 | 15–13 (6–10) | Maples Pavilion (2,978) Stanford, CA |
| February 29, 2020 4:00 pm, P12N | | at California | L 79–86 $^{OT}$ | 15–14 (6–11) | Haas Pavilion (6,420) Berkeley, CA |
| March 7, 2020 12:30 pm, P12N | | Colorado | W 74–72 $^{OT}$ | 16–14 (7–11) | Jon M. Huntsman Center (10,886) Salt Lake City, UT |
| Pac-12 tournament ||||||
| March 11, 2020 1:00 pm, P12N | (9) | vs. (8) Oregon State First round | L 69–71 | 16–15 | T-Mobile Arena (8,048) Paradise, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. ||||||
Source