Seniors Kim Tillie and Carlon Brown led the Ute offensive attack, and the team got several big contributions from its underclassmen in an 83-70 victory over the University of Findlay Oilers on Saturday afternoon.
“To me the story of the day is the sophomore class,” said Utah head coach Jim Boylen.
“I’ve been on (Jace) Tevita and (Jordan) Cyphers; they had to play better. I thought today they made strides in helping us win.”
The Oilers came out strong to start and kept the game close for most of the first half and jumped out to an early lead. The two teams exchanged leads for the first 10 minutes, but the Utes began to take control as halftime approached and were able to grab momentum in the final minute and take a five-point lead into halftime.
Junior forward Matt Read converted a 3-point play with 35 seconds left in the half to put the Utes up 38-35, and then with 2 seconds remaining, Tillie hit a jumper to push the Ute lead to five to finish the half.
The second half was all Utah, and after an offensive charge led by Brown and Tillie in the first 5 minutes of the second period, the Oilers trailed 55-41 and didn’t get closer than eight points of Utah for the rest of the game.
Tevita and Cyphers were just two of the impressive underclassmen contributors of the day. Freshman guard Marshall Henderson started for the Utes and scored nine points in 23 minutes, going 3 for 7 from 3-point range with two assists.
Henderson was one of 10 Ute players who were playing their first game in Utah uniforms. It was his first game at the college level and he said it was a different game experience than he’d had in high school.
“At first when I saw all the people, I thought it was pretty cool, but I was a little afraid to get going,” Henderson said. “Once I made that first shot though it all went away, and it was just back to playing regular basketball again.”
In the middle, redshirt freshman Jason Washburn and sophomore David Foster gave the Oilers fits on offense, combining for five blocks and each contributing eight points offensively.
“The combination of those two guys together can end up being a heck of center in this program with them playing at the five,” Boylen said.
Although the exhibition game won’t count on the team’s record, Boylen said the game was important for the team and for him as coach.
“It counts with me because I’m still working on my rotation and seeing who can play best together,” Boylen said. “I’m still growing with this team.”
The Utes and Boylen will take what they learned from the game and begin to prepare this week for their regular-season opener. The Utes will face Idaho on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Huntsman Center.
Mike Mangum/The Daily Utah ChronicleRedshirt feshman Jason Washburn had eight points and four blocks in his first game Saturday.