How to watch, listen to Utah vs. Purdue Fort Wayne college basketball game

Utes host the Mastodons seeking 5-0 start to the Alex Jensen era

The Utah Runnin' Utes tip off the Acrisure Series with a home game against the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

The Utah men's basketball team will continue the back-half of its six game homestead to start the 2025-26 season with a matchup against Purdue Fort Wayne out of the Horizon League.

Monday's tilt from Jon M. Huntsman Center, set for 7 p.m. MT., will also serve as the opener for the Acrisure Series for the Runnin' Utes (4-0). A quick turnaround pits them against Cal Poly on Thursday (7 p.m.), leading up to to next Tuesday's bout with Grand Canyon (10 p.m. MT) in Palm Desert, California.

Utah concludes the multi-team event the next day against either Ole Miss or Iowa (7:30 p.m. or 10 p.m.).

But first, the Runnin' Utes will look to iron out more wrinkles as they host the Mastodons (2-3).

Fans can watch Tuesday night's game on ESPN+. For those who hadn't already subscribed to ESPN's streaming platform, a new carriage deal between Disney and Google allows YouTube TV customers to view ESPN Unlimited and ESPN+ content with their YouTube TV subscription.

The Last Time Out

Much like its previous three games, Utah had plenty of teaching moments to take with it after hanging on for a narrow win over Sam Houston on Saturday.

Jensen and his staff would've liked a stronger finish out of their Runnin' Utes, who went ice cold from the field over the final 8 minutes of regulation and nearly squandered a 20-point lead, allowing the Bearkats to cut their deficit to two with just over a minute remaining in the ballgame.

Terrence Brown helped stave off Sam Houston's comeback at the free-throw line, where he scored his team's final eight points as part of a 26-point outing from the 6-foot-3 junior guard.

Keanu Dawes also played a big role throughout, finishing with 17 points and 15 rebounds, including four on the offensive glass, as the Runnin' Utes ended the night with a 46-33 advantage on the boards.

Utah put up similar shooting numbers to its Conference USA foe, as both shot 43% from the field with the Bearkats making four more field goals overall. The Runnin' Utes had an advantage at the free-throw line, where they 24-for-30.

Scouting the Mastodons

Purdue Fort Wayne returned 29.4% of its minutes played from last season's 19-13 squad, which finished No. 5 in the Horizon League standings while knocking down 10.3 3-pointers per game. Head coach Jon Hoffman's squad was picked to finish No. 5 in the standings once again in the Horizon League preseason poll for 2025-26.

Junior guard Corey Hadnot paced the team in scoring through the first two weeks of the 2025-26 campaign, averaging 19.4 points on 55.2% shooting from the field, including 40.9% from behind the arc. Denver transfer DeAndre Craig played second fiddle, scoring in double-digures in the first game games and putting up 16.0 points per game on 50.8% shooting, 40% from 3 and 92.3% at the charity stripe.

The Mastadons' first two wins of the season were against non-Division I schools Dominican (Illinois) and Boyce College (Kentucky). They started out 0-2 with double-digit losses to Grand Canyon (90-71) and Ohio State (94-68) before suffering a third setback to Western Michigan (83-71) on Nov. 12.

How to watch Purdue Fort Wayne vs. Utah

• Date: Tuesday, Nov. 18
• Game Time: 6 p.m. PT/7 p.m. MT
• Where: Jon M. Huntsman Center
• How to watch (TV): ESPN+
• Radio: ESPN 700
• KenPom's final score prediction: Utah 87, Purdue Fort Wayne 72