UTICA, NY- The Utica College men's basketball team will tip off its season Saturday at it hosts SUNY Cortland... The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. at the Clark Athletic Center.  The Pioneers will look to fill some big shoes this year as they lost five seniors from last year's team, including three of the top four scorers.

Tutein Back for Senior Season: UC will be returning its second leading scorer in senior Robert Tutein (Nanuet, NY/Nanuet)... He averaged 12.0 points per game last season, while ranking second on the team with 59 3-pointers, and shooting 40.1% from beyond the arc... Tutein was also a presence on the defensive end of the floor, with a team leading 16 blocks, and adding 22 steals, good for third on the team.

Providing Depth: Ivan Iton (Ossining, NY/Ossining) is entering his sophomore season, after a productive freshman year for the Pioneers... Iton played in 24 games last season, while starting nine, averaging 6.0 points per game, and 3.3 rebounds per game, good for third on the team... Senior Jawan Simmons (Syracuse, NY/Nottingham) will have a chance to make an impact for UC, after playing in 21 games last season, averaging 2.4 points and 1.0 rebounds per game... Sophomore Shawn Celestin (Nanuet, NY/Nanuet) played in 14 games last season, totaling nine rebounds and six points in 37 minutes on the year... Sophomore Mike Cannizzo (Mechanicville, NY/Mechanicville) will add to the Pioneers depth after recording six points, four assists, and seven rebounds in 13 games last season. 

Guard Play: Carl Taylor (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) is back for his sophomore season with the Pioneers... Last season, Taylor provided some defensive stability as a freshman... He started nine games, and played in a total of 22 contests, ending up with six steals on the season... He also averaged 1.7 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 0.9 assists per game.

Coaching Staff: Chris Connolly is entering his eighth season as head coach, and he welcomes first year assistant Stephen Zurich to the coaching staff... Connolly has amassed 76 wins in seven full seasons at the helm, and looks to put a competitive team on the floor in the Empire 8 Conference... Last season the Pioneers compiled an overall record of 10-15 and 6-10 in E8 play.

Newcomers: The Pioneers added 12 new faces to the team, including one transfer and 11 freshmen... Guard Michael Santillo (Mohawk, NY/Mohawk) is a junior transfer looking to make an impact in the orange and blue... Also battling for playing time will be guard Jonathan Wilson (Rochester, NY/Greece Arcadia), guard Andrew Druziak (Amsterdam, NY/Amsterdam ), guard Tarik Boyd (Middletown, NY/Harmony Christian Academy), guard Seamus McHugh (Latham, NY/Shaker), guard/forward Devin Wilkerson (Germany/Apo Armed Forces-Europe), guard Justin Mayers (Hastings, NY/Hastings on the Hudson), guard/forward Stephen Gall (Bronx, NY/Benjamin Banneker), guard Jahnu Newton (Yonkers, NY/Palisade Prep), forward Luis Lopez (Macedon, NY/Ganonda), forward Justin Maurer (New York, NY/Legacy), and forward Troy Edwards (Yonkers, NY/Palisade Prep).

Key Losses: UC looks to fill the starting spots of Conor Maisch (Kingston, NY/John A. Coleman), Aaron Nevins (Buffalo, NY/Canisius), and Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn)... Maisch was the Pioneers' top scorer last season averaging 17.3 points per game, which ranked third in the conference... Maisch also led the conference in three-point percentage, shooting 47.4% from beyond the arc, and he was second in three pointers made with 74... Nevins was another key player for the Pioneers as he scored 1180 points in his four-year career at UC... Nevins was third on the team in scoring last season averaging 11.2 points per game and he also led the team in assists averaging 4.8 per game... Utica is also losing another career 1,000-point scorer in Jeffers, as he racked up 1,024 points and 811 rebounds over his four-year career... He was the fourth leading scorer for UC last season, averaging 9.2 points per game, and was also the leading rebounder on the team with 6.9 rebounds per contest.

Key Matchups: UC faces a tough schedule this season including some challenging conference matchups... Utica has to be prepared to face St. John Fisher and Alfred University, as they finished first and second in the conference one year ago... The last time the Pioneers were able to get a win against Fisher was in the 2011-2012 season by the score of 72-64... Last year the Pioneers split the season series against the Saxons, winning on their home floor by a score of 81-75, and Alfred returned the favor by defeating the Pioneers in Alfred 98-84 in the last game of the season... Stevens always poses a threat, as UC's last win against the Ducks came in February 2009 by a score of 69-64... The Pioneers swept Stevens in that 2008-2009 season as they also won the first game by a score of 67-60. 

Looking to Get Back to the Empire 8 Tournament: The Pioneers will look to get back to the Empire 8 Conference tournament since 2013, when they went 12-14 overall and 8-6 in conference play... Utica finished the regular season winning seven of its last nine games to make it into the tournament after a slow start to the season... In the conference tournament UC fell to Stevens Institute of Technology in the first round by a score of 102-66.

Pioneers All-Access: Make sure to catch live video, audio and stats on Pioneers All-Access: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/ … Audio is provided by WPNR 90.7 FM.

ESPN Broadcast Info:  Select Utica College basketball games will be broadcast on the radio locally at WTLB 99.1 FM/1310 AM (ESPN Radio) by Dave Peroni and UC alum Ray Biggs … Live streaming audio can also be accessed on WTLB's website, www.espnur.com... Fans can also download the free ESPNUR app on their Iphone or Droid device by searching "ESPNUR" in their respective app store.

WPNR Broadcast Info:  Select Utica College home games are also broadcast over the air and online by Utica College's student radio station, WPNR 90.7 FM … Fans can also download the WPNR app by searching WPNR in their respective app store.