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Show 6 Wednesday November 7, 2012 SPORTS www.dailyutahchronicle.com UPCOMING SPORTS EVENTS THURSDAY: Men's Tennis Utah @ ITA National Indoor Championships All Day Flushing Meadows, N.Y. FRIDAY: Men's Basketball Utah vs. Williamette 7 p.m. Huntsman Center Volleyball Utah vs. USC 1:30 p.m. Crimson Court Women's Tennis Utah @ San Diego State Invitational TBA San Diego Men's Tennis Utah @ ITA National Indoor Championships TBA San Diego MICA TOP 25 VOLLEYBALL RK. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 TEAM Stanford Penn. St. Texas Oregon Washington UCLA Hawaii USC Nebraska Minnesota Lousiville Dayton Florida St. BYU Ohio St. Florida Kansas St. West. Kentucky San Diego Iowa St. Purdue North Carolina Kansas Pepperdine Creighton RECORD 22-2 23-2 20-3 20-3 19-4 18-5 21-2 22-4 18-5 20-5 23-3 22-4 22-3 23-2 18-8 19-4 20-4 28-3 18-5 15-7 18-7 21-4 20-5 18-8 22-3 CHRISTOPHER REEVES/The Daily Utah Chronicle Utah tight end Jake Murphy had three receptions for a total of 28 yards against Washington State on Saturday at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Murphy leads the Utes with 29 total receptions this season. Wilson-Murphy duo creates strong bond for Utah football Parker Lee STAFF WRITER Utah fans have been seeing a heavy dose of one thing during the past four games — Travis Wilson to Jake Murphy. "Wilson to Murphy" might not have quite the same ring to it as "Stockton to Malone," but Wilson and Murphy are rapidly becoming a duo Pac-i2 teams are having a hard time finding answers for, at least so far. "We're real close — we're real good friends," Murphy said. "I have been finding openings and Travis has been seeing them. Maybe those openings won't always be there, but we'll keep taking it while it's there." Murphy and Wilson come from different backgrounds and took different roads to Utah. Murphy was born into a baseball family in American Fork. His father, Dale, was a Major League Baseball AllStar and MVP with the Atlanta Braves. Wilson was raised playing football in the Southern California surfing town of San Clemente. Now that they are both starters at Utah, they couldn't be closer when it comes to playing pitch-andcatch on the football field. From the first snap Wilson took as starting quarterback, he has relied heavily on Murphy's tight-end abilities. Wilson was awarded the job in advance of Utah's game at UCLA. On the Utes' first play from scrimmage at the Rose Bowl, Wil- son hit Murphy in the numbers for a i4-yard completion down the seam. The two connected again late in the half for a 23-yard completion. By game's end, Wilson completed four passes to Murphy. Wilson went back to the Murphy well when the Utes traveled to Corvallis, Ore., to take on Oregon State. The pair again teamed up for four completions, one of which resulted in a touchdown from 18 See DUO Page 8 1- THE GREAT DEBATE -I Will Runnin' Utes win more than 15 games? Utah's strong start could prove routine New roster will prevent team's success w ith a less-than-stellar football season coming to a close, Utes fans should be looking forward to something new to get excited about. The revamped men's basketball team is looking to make huge advancements from last year's performance. If the Nov. 2 exhibition game against Simon Fraser was any indication, this is a much better team than last year's. Utah smoked the Clan at the Huntsman Center 71-36. This victory was a massive improvement from the first time the Utes hit the court last year, when they lost to Division II opponent Adams State. Utah finished the 2011-2012 season with only six wins and 25 losses. Utah lost almost its entire team from last year and this was a good thing for such a struggling program. With the early season loss of 7-foot-3 center David Foster, the Utes only have three players returning. Last year's team lacked size, talent and Pac-12 experience. The new and improved Utes have addressed these issues with the addition of ii players as they begin to rebuild a historically renowned program. The 2011-2012 Utes had just one player taller than 6 feet 7 inches, but this year they've got four. Renan Lenz is 6-foot-9, Jason Washburn and Jeremy Olsen are 6-foot-10 and Dallin Bachynski is 7-foot. They will add much-needed size to the new Utes. In addition to adding more size to the roster, the Utes have attracted some players from other schools who can score. Jarred DuBois came from Loyola Marymount as a three-year starter, Glen Dean is a former Big Sky freshman of the year and Aaron Dotson transferred from LSU. All are taking the court for Utah this year. To add to the group of transfer athletes comes a group of talented freshmen. Jordan Loveridge, a 6-foot-6-inch forward out T CHAD MOBLEY Staff Writer of West Jordan High School, ranked among ESPNU's Top ioo recruits in the nation. Loveridge comes into the program with a lot of hype, and if he can live up to it, the Utes are in good shape. The media has picked the Utes to finish in a distant last place in the Pac-12, but Utah doesn't plan on losing. Head coach Larry Krystkowiak plans to put the "run" back in the Runnin' Utes this year. With a dire season in the wake, it's difficult for fans to get excited about 2012-2013. All six wins the Utes pulled off last year came at home, where they were 6-9. This means that home-court advantage is imperative to the Utes. Utah will host three more home games than it did last year, which gives the team more opportunity for inflating the win column. The Utes struggled in their first year in the Pac-12 tremendously and didn't win a road game, but with a year of experience under their belts they are looking toward a brighter future and will be playing with a chip on their shoulder all year. They will need defense out of their big men, scoring out of their rising stars and the support of Ute fans to take advantage of home court. If all of this comes together, Utah is looking at a 15-win season. With 15 wins, Utah would finish in the middle of the conference and silence many of its critics. c.mobley@chronicle.utah.edu Twitter: @Chad Mobley here is a lot of optimism surrounding the program going into the second season of head coach Larry Krystkowiak's tenure with the Runnin' Utes. For the first time in years, there is anticipation for the season to begin. But we need to keep our expectations in check. It would be nearly impossible for Utah to duplicate last year's 6-25 season, which can be categorized as disastrous. But how much improvement could have taken place throughout one solitary offseason? I'll tell you this: The Utes won't win more than 15 games this season. Now don't get me wrong, Krystkowiak has done a fine job of recruiting both freshmen and transfers, but there is much more to a team than just talent level. Many are excited about the arrival of Jarred DuBois, a senior transfer from Loyola Marymount. His name is in LMU's record books after three seasons (plus a few games). Since he's coming to Utah for graduate school, we can assume he's a smart guy, which never hurts. But DuBois was only the fourth-leading scorer at LMU last year on a team that finished 21-13 in the West Coast Conference. He ranks fourth in LMU's history in 3-point field goals made, but shot only 36percent. Although that is a fairly respectable percentage, it means DuBois must have taken — and missed — a lot of shots to get all those points so quickly. Freshman Jordan Loveridge is another player who has generated excitement over the offseason, and rightfully so. He was the 5A player of the year in Utah last year while leading the state in scoring and rebounding en route to amassing 18 double-doubles. But we mustn't forget Loveridge is, after all, just a freshman. There is no doubt he could serve as a great building block for Krystkowiak's system going forward, but freshman recruits rarely have a profound effect on the success of team. A scary sign for this team is injuries have S. MATT ELLIS ■ 111111 111111161 StaffWriter already had a fairly major impact and the season has not even begun yet. David Foster, who would have been one of the team's best defenders going into the season, hurt his foot again and his playing time at Utah is done. He holds career records in total blocks with 219, as well as the top two spots for blocks in a single season. As the new players on Utah's roster adapt to Krystkowiak's offensive system, they will have to rely on defense. Missing that massive shot-blocker will make matters more difficult. One of Utah's other star transfers, Aaron Dotson, is out with a stress fracture in his foot until early December. A redshirt junior, he certainly can provide a little experience and leadership to the team, but they won't see him on the court for at least eight games, possibly more. The Utes' win percentage last year was .194 and if the Utes win 15 games this year, that would put them at a .441 clip. That means they would have to win roughly 25percent more games with only a few players who are even familiar with how the team operates on the court. With only three players returning who are familiar with Krystkowiak's system, it's inevitable that there will be some speed bumps early as the team works out the kinks. So can the Utes improve their wins by 25percent after just one offseason? I don't know about you, but I'm certainly not counting on it. m.ellis@chronicle.utah.edu Twitter: @mattellis utah |