Arena #163: Jon M. Huntsman Center - Utah vs. UCLA

After an evening in Logan, UT, it was back to Salt Lake City for a visit to the Jon M. Huntsman Center at the University of Utah for Arena #163.  On this evening, the Utes were taking on the suddenly red-hot UCLA Bruins in a Pac-12 Conference matchup.  Similar to the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, the Huntsman Center was also celebrating its 50^th anniversary this season and looked nearly identical in layout to the Smith Spectrum with the exception of having its concourse outside of the seating bowl and having a 15 or so row upper deck as well.  Now I’m not a big Utah fan, but I was extra excited about catching a game here because of the NCAA history the Huntsman Center holds.  It was the site of the famous 1979 NCAA title game between Magic Johnson’s Michigan State team and the Indiana State Sycamores of Larry Bird.  It was also the site of the epic round of 32, double-overtime NCAA game between Arizona and Gonzaga back in 2003. 

Getting to the Huntsman Center from downtown SLC was super easy as the UTA Trax light rail has a stop basically right in front of the building.  Definitely made it easier than having to drive out to the arena and find parking on campus.  The interior of the building was certainly nothing to write home about as the concourse was pretty basic and also pretty narrow.  I would imagine when the house is packed, the concourses become pretty difficult to get through freely.  I did like how there were display cases throughout the concourse of trophies and celebrations of the Utes’ various other sports including their national championship pedigree in more obscure sports like gymnastics and alpine skiing.

As for the basketball side of things, the Utes have had a pretty inconsistent season having some big wins, including a win over Kentucky, as well as some pretty terrible losses.  UCLA on the other hand started the season pretty poorly in their first season under new head coach Mick Cronin, but have really turned things around in the last month.  As such, I figured this might be a pretty competitive game with a pretty decent crowd.  Turns out I was wrong on both fronts.  The crowd was maybe half full at best, though an 8:30 pm local tip time for TV on a Thursday night certainly didn’t help.  The on-court action was also pretty uncompetitive as the Bruins more-or-less dominated the Utes from tip to finish.  UCLA was certainly the more talented team and it was interesting to see how some of their star recruits were finally playing up to their potential compared to earlier in the season when UCLA was dropping games to lower-tier teams like Hofstra and Cal State Fullerton.  The first half was pretty ugly both ways, but especially on the Utah end, scoring only 21 points at the half to trail by 12.  The second half brought more offense for the Utes, but also brought more offense for the Bruins too who eventually took home a 69-58 road win.

Main entrance to the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, UT

Inside the arena pregame

Bringing the heat for player introductions

Opening tip between the Utes and Bruins

UCLA playing some tough interior defense against the Utes

2017 PK80 - Phil Knight Invitational

When a one-off, 16 team college basketball extravaganza was announced back in 2015 for Thanksgiving weekend 2017, I knew right then what my holiday plans would be for this year.  Having the opportunity to see both of my teams (UConn and Gonzaga) in the same "tournament" for the 2nd time in 3 years was definitely going to be a can't miss event.

The ability to have 2 tournaments running simultaneously in buildings a few hundred yards from each other was a perfect setup for the event in that it allowed me to catch 15 games over the course of the 3 days(including 7 of the 8 games on Day 1).  ESPN did manage to botch scheduling on Day 2 making the semifinal matchups overlap with each other (when both my teams were playing in them no less!), but other than that the coordination of the event was pretty strong.

Can't say I was thrilled having to watch Duke and Michigan St. win their respective brackets, but it was definitely a memorable event over a memorable weekend honoring the man behind Nike, Mr. Phil Knight.

Moda Center glowing in a clear Portland evening

The man being honored with PK80 - Mr. Phil Knight

Outside the Veterans Memorial Coliseum - the 2nd building hosting PK80 games all weekend long

Jalen Adams (UConn) with the jumper in a PK80 quarterfinal matchup with Oregon

Upstairs vantage point inside the Veterans Memorial Coliseum during the PK80

Josh Perkins (Gonzaga) pulls up for 3 against Ohio St. in a PK80 quarterfinal

Arena #92: Maples Pavilion - Stanford vs. #9 North Carolina

The final stop of 6 games in 6 days in NorCal to once again see North Carolina play, this time on the road against the Stanford Cardinal.  For someone who isn't a fan of UNC, it's ridiculous to think this was the 7th game I've seen of theirs in the last year after a matchup at the University of Hawai'i, 3 at the 2016 Maui Jim Maui Invitational, and 2 more at the 2017 Final Four.  Sadly, I'm beginning to think I'm a good luck charm for good 'ol Roy and team as they won every one of those 6 previous games.

As for Maples Pavilion and this game, the matchup was not nearly as competitive as I hoped for as UNC blew out the Cardinal and Maples Pavilion was significantly less interesting and unique than I expected.  

Opening tip of Stanford vs. #9 North Carolina

Stanford taking it to the rack

Strong crowd, including a lot of powder blue, to see a top 10 opponent at Maples

Arena #82: Coors Events Center - Colorado vs. #10 Oregon

January 28, 2017: Saturday evening in Boulder, CO to visit my 7th Pac-12 arena.  Even though I'm a fan of Dana Altman, I do always enjoy a good court storming, especially after the PA announcer told the students to stay off the court.  Plus who doesn't love a game with Bill Walton in the house!

Love the mountains painted on this court

Dillon Brooks with the attempted flush

Storming the court!!