UH hoops to play Utah in lone nonconference road game

The Hawaii men’s basketball team will play at the University of Utah on Dec. 2, in what could be the Rainbow Warriors’ lone nonconference road game of the 2017-18 season.

Utah released its full nonconference schedule on Monday. It is the second stand-alone nonconference game revealed on UH’s schedule, after the Reno Gazette-Journal reported Nevada will play at the Stan Sheriff Center on Nov. 24.

UH, entering its third season under coach Eran Ganot, did not play a nonconference mainland game in 2016-17. The program’s only such game in 2015-16 was an 82-74 loss at Texas Tech.

Ganot could not be reached for comment on Monday.

Senior forward Gibson Johnson, a native of Centerville, Utah, won a championship at Salt Lake Community College prior to transferring to UH. He tweeted, “I’m gonna need Davis county to show up in Hawaii green on December 2nd … then you can go back to your red.”

Davis County is just north of Salt Lake City.

Utah of the Pac-12 Conference went 20-12 last season, including a 66-52 win over UH in the Diamond Head Classic second round on Dec. 23. The Runnin’ Utes went on to lose to Boise State in the first round of the NIT.

Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said in the Utes’ release, “We are looking forward to our nonconference schedule heading into the upcoming season. It will be a challenging schedule for our team and it should be very motivating for our program as we continue to work and get better over the next four months.”

Big man David Collette, who led the Utes against the ’Bows, withdrew his name from the NBA Draft in time to return for his senior season.

UH is 1-22 all-time against Utah in Salt Lake City, with the lone victory there coming by a point (69-68) on Crosetti Speight’s halfcourt heave on Feb. 16, 1984. The teams last played on the Utes’ court on Feb. 13, 1999, a 27-point Utah blowout. UH trails in the overall series 48-10 — its most losses to any opponent.