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SALT LAKE CITY -- An appearance in the San Juan Shootout and 15 regular-season home dates headline the 2006-07 Utah men's basketball schedule announced today. Game times and television coverage will be announced at a later date.
Utah opens its regular-season schedule against Southern Utah on Friday, Nov. 10. Also visiting the Huntsman Center during the nonconference season will be Colorado on Tuesday, Nov. 21; Rice on Saturday, Nov. 25; Weber State on Wednesday, Nov. 29: Washington State on Saturday, Dec. 2; Cal Poly on Friday, Dec. 15; and Albany on Thursday, Dec. 28.
The Runnin' Utes have nonconference road games at Santa Clara on Saturday, Nov. 18; Utah State on Wednesday, Dec. 6; and Rhode Island on Saturday, Dec. 9.
Utah plays in the San Juan Shootout, Dec. 19-21 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Runnin' Utes face Central Florida in the first round on Tuesday, Dec. 19. Also in the eight-team field are Virginia, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, Appalachian State, Tennessee Tech and Puerto Rico-Mayaguez.
Utah opens Mountain West Conference play with three of its first four games on the road, including its opener at UNLV on Wednesday, Jan. 3. After hosting TCU on Saturday, Jan. 6, the Utes travel to Colorado State on Tuesday, Jan. 9 and New Mexico on Saturday, Jan. 13.
Three of Utah's next four league games will be at home. The Utes host Air Force on Tuesday, Jan. 16; Wyoming on Saturday, Jan. 20. After the first of two open dates, Utah plays at defending Mountain West champion San Diego State on Saturday, Jan. 27. The Utes then close out the first half of their conference schedule against archrival BYU in the Huntsman Center on Wednesday, Jan. 31.
The Utes open the second month of conference play at TCU on Saturday, Feb. 3, then host Colorado State on Wednesday, Feb. 7. After an open date, Utah plays at Air Force on Wednesday, Feb. 14, hosts UNLV on Saturday, Feb. 17, and travels to Wyoming on Wednesday, Feb. 21.
Utah plays its final three Mountain West Conference games instate. The Utes host New Mexico on Saturday, Jan. 24 and San Diego State on Tuesday, Feb. 27. Utah closes out the regular season against BYU in Provo on Saturday, March 3. It will be the first time since 1996 that Utes and Cougars battle it out in the regular season finale.
The Mountain West Conference Tournament moves back to Las Vegas this season, taking place March 6-10 at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Of Utah's 16 conference games, eight will take place on Saturday, three on Tuesday and five on Wednesday. The Mountain West Conference begins a new television partnership this year with OLN/Versus, CSTV and The mtn.
Utah returns four starters and two other lettermen from last season. Junior guard Johnnie Bryant and sophomore center Luke Nevill earned all-Mountain West Conference honorable mention in 2005-06. Ray Giacoletti also welcomes eight newcomers, two of whom were ranked among the USA Today's Top 100 seniors in 2005-06. The Runnin' Utes went 14-15 overall in 2005-06 and placed sixth in the Mountain West with a 6-10 record.
Utah plays a pair of exhibition games on Friday, Nov. 3 and Monday, Nov. 6. Both games will tip-off at 7 p.m. in the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
