University of Utah

Utah Basketball Announces Games With BYU, Xavier, Butler

SALT LAKE CITY—University of Utah men’s basketball announced non-conference games with powerhouses Butler and Xavier, as well as a matchup with Brigham Young University in 2017-18 after canceling the 2016-17 matchup.

Utah will play BYU in Provo in 2017.  Per a press release, Utah athletic director Chris Hill said, “(BYU athletics director) Tom Holmoe and I have agreed to a game in Provo in November or December of 2017. We are in the process of formulating plans for the future with BYU. We are also looking at future match-ups with other in-state schools.”

The announcement of a BYU matchup comes just months after Hill and Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak decided to buy-out the 2016-17 matchup with BYU.

The Utes will host Butler in 2016-17, then follow with a return trip to Indianapolis, Indiana the following season.  The layout of the Xavier series will be opposite, with Utah traveling to Cincinnati, Ohio in 2016-17, then hosting the Musketeers in Salt Lake City in 2017-18.

The meeting with Butler this season will be just the third all-time between the two schools (1964, 2010). The Bulldogs went 22-11 overall in 2015-16 and finished tied for fourth in the Big East, earning a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Xavier and Utah have never met on the basketball court before.  The Musketeers finished at 35-5 overall last season, second place in the Big East.  They were selected as a 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament.

In the rest of the non-conference home schedule, Utah will host in-state Utah Valley, Concordia, Coppin State, University of California-Riverside, and Montana State.  Utah will also participate in the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii on Dec 22, 23, and 25.  The tournament includes Illinois State, San Diego State, San Francisco, Southern Miss, Stephen F. Austin, Tulsa, and Hawai’i.

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