Utes will host Oregon and Oregon State to begin the Pac-12 men’s basketball schedule

Utah will open the 2019-20 Pac-12 men’s basketball play at home, following a long absence from the Huntsman Center.

Oregon and Oregon State, in some order, were assigned to visit the Utes during the week of Jan. 1-5, according to the framework of the conference schedule announced Monday. The exact opponents, dates, tipoff times and broadcast information usually are finalized in mid-September. Pac-12 games are staged from Wednesday through Sunday.

The Oregon schools both beat Utah at the Huntsman Center last season, when the Utes went 11-7 in conference play to finish third. Utah didn’t travel to Oregon or OSU in the Pac-12 scheduling rotation.

Opening the Pac-12 schedule at home this season is a welcomed development for the Utes, whose last nonconference home game is Dec. 7 vs. Central Arkansas. Utah will meet Weber State at Vivint Smart Home Arena on Dec. 14, then play Kentucky in Las Vegas on Dec. 18 and meet San Diego State in Los Angeles on Dec. 21 to complete nonconference play.

The Pac-12 is continuing with its nine-year rotation of conference opponents in 2019-20, when the Utes will play Washington and Washington State only at home and oppose Arizona and Arizona State only on the road. The league is moving to a 20-game schedule in 2020-21, when Utah will meet two opponents once each.

The Utes will begin coach Larry Krystkowiak’s ninth season Nov. 5 at Nevada; the team’s home opener is Nov. 8 vs. Mississippi Valley State. Other home games, in addition to Central Arkansas’ visit, are Nov. 15 vs. Minnesota, Nov. 29 vs. UC Davis and Dec. 4 vs. BYU.

Tillman update

Donnie Tillman, who entered the NCAA transfer portal in early June after two seasons at Utah, will visit UNLV this week, he told college basketball reporter Jon Rothstein. Tillman has visited Rutgers and Illinois and is also considering St. John's.

UNLV is a logical landing spot for Tillman. Las Vegas is where his mother has lived for several years after moving from Detroit so that Tillman, her youngest son, could attend Findlay Prep. DeMarlo Slocum, the Ute former assistant coach who recruited Tillman, is now on the UNLV staff.

Tillman, the Pac-12′s Sixth Man of the Year as a sophomore, recently tweeted that his mother’s surgery “went well.” Prior to Tillman’s entering the transfer portal, Utah announced June 7 that he was taking a leave of absence from the school to attend to his mother.