Current BYU basketball assistant coach Chris Burgess has been on both sides of the state's best basketball rivalry; here's how he feels on the eve of the big game.

After enigmatic coach Rick Majerus was hired by Utah in April of 1989, the Utes climbed back into the national picture, while BYU stayed fairly relevant under Roger Reid and then bottomed out in the 1996-97 season, going 1-25 with Reid being fired after seven games.

The Utah men’s basketball team is gearing up for a high-stakes matchup against in-state rival BYU this Saturday in the Jon M. Huntsman Center. This game marks the 265th meeting in this storied rivalry and the first as conference foes since the 2010-11 season.

BYU and Utah face off on the hardwood Saturday night for the first time as Big 12 conference opponents in the first of two regular season matchups. BYU will host Utah March 8 in the regular season finale.

Utah will play its third game in eight days when the Utes host rival BYU at the Huntsman Center (7 p.m. MST, ESPN+). What has stood out about Utah’s two-game win st