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On paper, Utah and Utah Valley are meeting for the first time Tuesday night.

But there's likely few first-time opponents who are this well-acquainted.

The connections between the Utes and Wolverines run deep. http://bit.ly/2gWKhQ2";>While junior guard Kenneth Ogbe, who transferred into the program this offseason, might be the headliner, the list goes on.

For example: Utah forward Tyler Rawson is looking forward to competing against former teammate Conner Toolson, http://www.sltrib.com/sports/3689992-155/kragthorpe-slcc-comes-together-for-another";>with whom he won a national championship at Salt Lake Community College. Rawson already watched him in a game against Idaho State, when Toolson knocked down 21 points.

"He can shoot it," Rawson said, "that's for sure."

Other connections are more casual: Junior Kyle Kuzma said he's friends with several of the UVU players, particularly triple-threat guard Brandon Randolph, through open gyms. Even beyond Ogbe, who practiced with the Utes for three years, many of these players have matched up during the summer in pick-up.

Coach Larry Krystkowiak, who has previously voiced concern for scheduling too many in-state opponents in a year, said that the stakes of the in-state game are a little higher than normal for that reason.

"They're familiar with a lot of our guys," he said. "There's a little more importance to it. If you can't get up for games like these, you've got some issues."

But UVU's staff is also stocked with former Utes: Chris Burgess,http://bit.ly/1GmQYTE";> who graduated from Utah and played for Rick Majerus, was one of coach Mark Pope's first hires. Cody Fueger was a student assistant and video assistant at Utah, where he graduated from before going on to coach at Utah State (he and Chris Jones worked together there) and BYU. Randy Towner, the team's strength and conditioning coach, was with the Utes for the last few seasons.

A more convoluted connection: Assistant Eric Daniels is the son of former Utah assistant Donny Daniels from the Majerus era. But he went to Highland High School, served as a ballboy, and was around the Utes for some of the biggest home games of the 90s.

"They're good people and they work hard," Krystkowiak said of UVU's staff. "They've been in this program. There's connections with Majerus. Besides their basketball acumen, they're good people. … It's not unusual that [Pope] should be in the middle of that coaching tree."

But Pope, who was an assistant at BYU, clearly took much influence from his Cougar roots: Utah is anticipating a fast-paced, deep-shooting team that can put up points quickly — http://bit.ly/2gUHC9g";>like they did at the Marriott Center in a 114-101 win.

The Wolverines rank No. 4 in KenPom's adjusted tempo stat, taking an average of 14 seconds per possession. In their scoring, 39.3 percent of their points come from 3-pointers, which is the 26th-highest ratio in the country.

Utah didn't fare wellhttp://bit.ly/2ghWNbU";> in 3-point defense against Montana State, and hasn't done well guarding the perimeter most of the year, which Krystkowiak said he was "trying to wrap my head around" given that Utah has guarded 2-point shots so well. Transition defense will be an emphasis.

"We definitely gotta get back defensively," guard Jake Connor said. "They really like to run, shoot early threes. We gotta play to our gameplan."

It's a good bet that Utah's gameplan figures to dominate the glass: Aside from 6-foot-11 Isaac Neilson, the Wolverines don't have much size inside. Utah rates as the No. 3 offensive rebounding team in the country, grabbing over 42 percent of boards on the offensive glass.

There is a magic number: Utah Valley is unbeaten when it scores 80 points or more this year, but 1-2 when held under that mark. Utah doesn't want to be the next in-state team to fall to the surging Wolverines.

" It's one of the better teams in the state of Utah, I think it's safe to say," Krystkowiak said. "They've got a lot of firepower. They're real competitive."

kgoon@sltrib.com
Twitter: @kylegoon