3 takeaways from Utah basketball’s exhibition opener at UNLV

A new group of Utah basketball players got its first taste of facing someone else Wednesday night, as the Runnin' Utes opened exhibition play with a 79-69 win over UNLV in Las Vegas.

Here are three takeaways from Utah's victory at the Thomas & Mack Center.

"The exhibition games are great for us because you get to play against somebody else. And I don't think it's changed where we need to get to, but with a whole new team, it's good to play together," Utah coach Alex Jensen said.

It was a good day all around for the Utes' guard lineup.

A few hours before tipoff, a school spokesperson shared that Trey Campbell was granted a temporary restraining order in his legal battle with the NCAA over eligibility and is eligible to compete.

Campbell, who played the past four seasons at Northern Iowa, spent the offseason pursuing a fifth year of eligibility in the wake of the NCAA's new eligibility model that will allow student-athletes five years to compete in up to five seasons.

That included filing a lawsuit against the NCAA last month in Utah's Business and Chancery Court, seeking an additional season of eligibility.

It didn't take long for Campbell to make an impact on the floor for Utah in Las Vegas. He hit a pair of early 3-pointers and knocked down two free throws in the game's first six minutes on his way to scoring 11 first-half points.

Campbell had a solid night overall, scoring a team-high 17 points, hitting 3 of 7 3-pointers and adding three rebounds, three assists and two steals in 26 minutes of play.

While Campbell led Utah's guard line from the starting lineup, TJ Burch came off the bench and sparked the Utes.

Burch was active on both ends, scoring 16 points while adding five rebounds, one assist and four steals. He made 8 of 10 free throws, leading the Utes' 21-of-25 effort from the free-throw line.

Defensive effort comes with gains and things to improve

Since taking over the program last season, Jensen has preached the need to set the pace defensively, and that was apparent against the Rebels.

Utah was active defensively throughout the night, and while they struggled at times to finish out defensive possessions, the Utes forced 18 turnovers and converted those into 18 points.

Burch, the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year at Wright State a season ago, was excellent at directing his teammates, and former Utah Valley guard Jackson Holcombe, a former WAC all-defense honoree, showcased his toughness defensively.

The Utes were still out of position and overly aggressive at times, as they finished with 23 fouls, which led to UNLV shooting 29 free throws — though the Rebels only hit 15 of those free-throw attempts.

There were 11 Utes who played Wednesday night, with nine of those players earning double-digit minutes.

"(The) best aspect is I think we played hard. I think the effort was good," Jensen said. "Now we just got to add the smarts with it."

The starting five included Campbell, Holcombe, Taison Chatman, Alec Anigbata and Malek Gomma. Each played 20-plus minutes.

Burch also played 22 minutes and was the catalyst in Utah's bench outsourcing UNLV 32-12.

Having that opportunity for so many players to earn valuable minutes produced a couple of notable statistics.

As a team, Utah shot 10 of 32 from 3-point range, though the Utes did the majority of their damage in the first half. Utah made 9 of 21 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes — helping them take a 45-35 lead into halftime — then were 1 of 11 in the second half.

The Utes showed off an impressive amount of ball movement, particularly in the first half, and while that waned some in the final 20 minutes, it was evident that Utah may not be as reliant on one or two hot hands this season — several people up and down the roster could be the leading scorer on a given night.

One area for improvement was rebounding, as Utah was out-rebounded 45-37. UNLV had a 16-11 advantage on the offensive boards, though the Utes were better at turning those into second-chance points with a 15-9 edge.

The Utes also had 10 assists on 13 made field goals in the first half before finishing with 15 assists on 24 buckets.

"We have a better feel for rotations and stuff," Jensen said after the win. "But just going back to rebounding and stuff of that nature (are things to work on)."