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Utah Utes basketball’s full schedule set with season opener, visits from Arizona, Oregon, UCLA

Utah is coming off an 11-20 season under Craig Smith, who will begin his second season at the helm

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) University of Utah men’s basketball head coach Craig Smith runs his team through drills at the Jon M. and Karen Huntsman Basketball Facility on Thursday, July 14, 2022.

  | Sep. 15, 2022, 8:18 p.m.

With the Pac-12 releasing its men’s basketball schedule on Thursday, the University of Utah’s full slate is now set.

The Utes, 11-20 overall and 4-16 in the Pac-12 a year ago in head coach Craig Smith’s first season, will open the regular season on Nov. 7 against LIU at the Huntsman Center. The opener will mark the head coaching debut for 17-year veteran NBA point guard Rod Strickland, who took over at LIU on June 30.

As it did last year, Utah will host Division II Westminster College for an exhibition at the Huntsman Center on Nov. 2.

The highlight of the non-conference schedule will come at the end of it when the Utes travel to BYU on Dec. 17 and host TCU on Dec. 21 in a game to be played at Vivint Arena. The meeting with the Horned Frogs, who are projected to open the season ranked inside the top 20, is the back end of a home-and-home agreement, which saw the Utes lose a 76-62 decision at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth last season.

After hosting Arizona on Dec. 1 and traveling to Washington State on Dec. 4, Utah will begin its Pac-12 schedule in earnest on Dec. 29 at Cal. The Utes will complete the Bay Area trip two days later at Stanford.

All three perennial Pac-12 powers will visit the Huntsman Center this season. Aside from Arizona, Oregon comes to town Jan. 7, and UCLA on Feb. 23.

2022-23 UTAH MEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE

Nov. 2, vs,. Westminster (exhibition)

Nov. 7, vs,. LIU

Nov. 14, vs. Idaho State

Nov. 17, vs. Sam Houston State

Nov. 21, vs. Georgia Tech (Fort Myers Tip-Off)

Nov. 23, vs. Mississippi State/Marquette (Fort Myers Tip-Off)

Nov. 26, St. Thomas

Dec. 1, Arizona

Dec. 4, at Washington State

Dec. 8, vs. Jacksonville State

Dec. 13, UTSA

Dec. 17, at BYU

Dec. 21, vs. TCU (at Vivint Arena)

Dec. 29, at Cal

Dec. 31, at Stanford

Jan. 5, vs. Oregon State

Jan. 7, vs. Oregon

Jan. 12, at UCLA

Jan. 14, at USC

Jan. 19, vs. Washington State

Jan. 21, vs. Washington

Jan. 26, at Oregon State

Jan. 28, at Oregon

Feb. 2, vs. Stanford

Feb. 5, vs. Cal

Feb. 11, vs. Colorado

Feb. 16, at Arizona

Feb. 18, at Arizona State

Feb. 23, vs. UCLA

Feb. 25, vs. USC

March 4, at Colorado

March 8-11, Pac-12 Tournament, T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas

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