Utah Basketball: 2018-2019 season preview for the Utes

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 09: Utah Utes cheerleaders perform during a quarterfinal game of the Pac-12 Basketball Tournament against the California Golden Bears at T-Mobile Arena on March 9, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. California won 78-75. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

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NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 29: Sedrick Barefield #0 of the Utah Utes takes a shot against Shep Garner #33 of the Penn State Nittany Lions in the first quarter during the 2018 NIT Championship game at Madison Square Garden on March 29, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /

Key Players for the Utes in 2018-19

The strength of this Utah team will reside in its backcourt. As the best player and one of the few Seniors on the squad, Sedrick Barefield will have a chance to thrive in a leadership role. The 6’2″ guard averaged 12 points per game last season to go along with 2.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists, but all of those numbers are set for big boosts this year. He can attack the basket just about as well as anybody in the country, and as a 36.4% career three-point shooter, he can’t be ignored on the perimeter.

Charles Jones Jr, another 6’2” guard was the JUCO player of the year last season at Southern Idaho before deciding to step up to the Pac-12. As a 43% shooter from deep who has experience leading a team, he’ll be the perfect compliment to Barefield in the backcourt and will be an immediate asset on a relatively young squad.

As far as wings that Krystkowiak will have at his disposal, Donnie Tillman is a 6’7” Sophomore who had a strong freshman campaign with 7.8 points per game on 51% shooting. A versatile forward that can play and defend both the SF and PF positions, he’ll be a critical piece of the team’s success. Watch out for him as a likely “breakout candidate” that could end up as an all-conference selection come March.

Timmy Allen, a 6’6” freshman, and Both Gach (6’7″), were the #1 and #2 players coming out of high school in Arizona, and chose the Utes over UCLA and Oregon, respectively. Allen, like Tillman, will be an impact player from the opening tip because of his versatility, and Gach may already be the most explosive athlete on the team. It’s tough to predict how both of their minutes and points will be distributed, but if it’s any indication, they led the team in scoring in the exhibition vs. the College of Idaho (18 for Allen and 12 for Gach).

In the post, probably the most important player will be Novak Topalovic, a 7’ grad transfer from Idaho State who started all 30 games last season. Topalovic shot 65% from the field during Big Sky play and averaged 6.8 rebounds and a block per game. In a relatively inexperienced frontcourt, he’s exactly the type of player that Krystkowiak needed to secure this offseason. Jayce Johnson, another 7-footer, was highly touted out of high school and has shown steady signs of improvement through his first two years. He could easily see his 5.5 points, 5.4 averages from last season rise by a couple of digits this year. With two 7′ bigs and a plethora of talent in the backcourt, Krstkowiak will have the option of either using a “twin-tower” approach or going small with Tillman, Allen, or Gach at PF. Look for that to vary depending on the opponent.

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