The Utes started freshman forward Donnie Tillman at small forward for the second game in a row on Thursday night against Washington. It marked just his second appearance in the starting lineup this season.
The Utes started sophomore Kolbe Caldwell last week against UCLA, and coach Larry Krystkowiak said he was looking for more out of the small forward spot and hoped it might help remedy some of the team’s slow starts of late.
Tillman’s return from a foot injury and Chris Seeley bouncing back from gallbladder surgery have given the Utes more depth and, as a result, more flexibility with their starting lineup.
“I think Chris played solid minutes and proved that he’s a guy that we can lean on,” Krystkowiak said of Seeley’s play last week. “It wasn’t mistake free, but some of it is to be expected. He played really hard, rebounded the ball well. We need a rebounding focus, have that athlete in and around the rim that can change the game a little bit. Not so much about scoring, but going and getting rebounds — Donnie and Chris both do a good job of that.”
Seeley, a redshirt freshman and probably the team’s most athletic frontcourt player, had played in only six games coming into this week. Tillman’s insertion in the starting lineup pushes Gabe Bealer to the bench along with Jayce Johnson, Parker Van Dyke and Seeley.
“It is a different feel,” Tillman said. “I think it’s the first time since practice in the summer that we had everyone healthy, all 18 players.”
Utah’s bench scored 11 of the team’s 35 first-half points against Washington, and Seeley (three rebounds) and Johnson (seven rebounds) grabbed 10 of their 22 rebounds.
Familiar face
Former Utah State and BYU assistant Dave Rice is in his first season as an assistant on the Washington staff under first-year coach Mike Hopkins. Rice worked on Stew Morrill’s staff at USU during the 2004-05 season when the team went 24-8 and won the Big West Conference Tournament.
He served as an assistant at BYU from 2005-11, and his tenure included five consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. Rice’s coaching stops also included stints at Mountain West schools UNLV and Nevada.
Jazzing it up
Utah Jazz rookie sensation Donovan Mitchell attended Thursday’s game, and he got a loud ovation when his face appeared on the video board and he waved to the crowd near the end of the first half. Mitchell leads the Jazz in scoring (19.3 points per game) through the first 42 games of his rookie season.
The Utah Jazz Dunk Team also performed at halftime of the game.
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