Cougars renew rivalry with No. 12 Utah on Saturday

PROVO, Utah — BYU will travel 45 minutes north to renew its rivalry with the No. 12 Utah Utes on Saturday, Dec. 2 at the John M. Huntsman Center. The Cougars and Utes will tip off at 7 p.m. MT with the game broadcast live on the Pac-12 Network. Fans can also tune in for live play-by-play with Jason Shepherd on BYU Radio 107.9 FM or BYU Radio.org/BYU Radio app.

Series Breakdown

Saturday evening's contest will mark the 111th meeting between the Cougars and Utes on the hardwood. BYU trails Utah 43-67 in the series, going 13-33 at the Huntsman Center.

The last meeting ended in a 59-76 loss to the Utes on Dec. 10, 2022. The Cougars' last win came on the road at the Huntsman Center on Dec. 4, 2021, when they handed Utah an 85-80 loss. 

BYU Cougars (6-1, 0-0 Big 12)

• Sharing the rock: Last season, BYU garnered an 11-3 record when three players scored in double figures compared to a 2-10 mark when less than 3 players broke the 10-point threshold. The Cougars have assisted on 108 of 184 (.587) made field goals this season and have had three or more players score in double figures in six of the first seven games. BYU had four players score in double figures against Montana State, marking the first time Whiting’s squad has had four players score 10+ points without Lauren Gustin being one of the four.
• New year, new look: The Cougars have nine new faces on this year’s roster with seven new players and two new staff members. The newcomers have played just over 660 of 1,400 minutes for the Cougars through seven games. Davenport, Whiting and Woolston have accounted for 225 of 506 Cougar points (.445), 93 of 290 rebounds (.321), 40 of 108 assists (.370) and 21 of 42 steals (.500).
• Efficient and Effective: The Cougars are shooting a blistering 50 percent from the floor and 44.3 percent from three through seven games. In 2022-23, Whiting’s team scored 63.7 points per game compared to the 72.3 points in 2023-24. Last season, BYU only had Lauren Gustin (16.1) and Nani Falatea (15.3) who averaged double-figure points. This year, Whiting’s squad has doubled that number with Gustin (16.6), Kailey Woolston (15.9), Amari Whiting (11.6) and Falatea (10.5) all scoring more than 10 per game.

Head Coach – Amber Whiting

• Alma Mater: BYU, 2001
• Division I Career Record: 22-18 (2^nd Season)
• Record at BYU:  22-18 (2^nd Season)

Utah Utes (6-1, 0-0 Pac-12)

• Sharing the rock: The Utes score 100.7 points per game through seven games and have four players who score more than 10 points per contest and seven that average seven or more. They have assisted on 193 of 259 made baskets this season for an average of 74.5 percent. 2023 All-American Alissa Pili leads the way with 22.1 points per game followed by Gianna Kneepkens at 17.9, Issy Palmer at 14.0 and Reese Ross at 10.7. The Utes have four players who record more than three assists per game; Ines Vieira (7.0), Isabel Palmer (5.3), Kneepkens (4.0) and Kannady McQueen (3.9).
• Alissa Pili: The 2023 Pac-12 Player of the Year has picked up right where she left off, averaging 22.1 points per game on 74 percent shooting from the field, 47.4 percent from downtown and 80 percent from the charity stripe. The senior also grabs an average of 5.4 rebounds, dishes 2.3 assists, picks up 1.1 steals and sends away 1.3 shots per contest.
• Gianna Kneepkens: Kneepkens was an honorable mention All-American a season ago and is the Utes' second-leading scorer at 17.9 points per game on an efficient 68.2 percent from the field and 58.5 percent from three. The junior from Duluth, Minnesota joined Utah’s 1,000-point club on Tuesday with a 19-point performance against Carroll College on Tuesday.
• Get to the rim or launch from deep: The Utes are shooting an astounding 55.7 percent from the floor through seven games and 43.7 percent from behind the loop. Utah averages 14.3 made triples per game with six players shooting 46.9 percent or better with at least 16 three-point attempts. Reese Ross leads the way at 64.3 percent followed by Kneepkens (.585), Vieira (.579), Palmer (.563), Pili (.474) and McQueen (.469). The Utes offense primarily gets shots at the rim or a kick-out three-point attempts. The Utes have taken a total of five two-point field goals that did not come inside the paint this season, going 1-for-5 from the midrange, with two being last-second shots. Thus, Utah is 158-231 (.684) percent at the rim, 1-5 (.200) from the midrange and 100-229 from deep (68.4).

Head Coach – Lynne Roberts

• Alma Mater: Seattle Pacific, 1997
• Division I Career Record: 366-280 (22nd Season)
• Record at Wyoming: 145-105 (3rd Season)