SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Experience is turning into an area of strength for Utah men’s basketball.

The Utes had one of the youngest rosters in Division I last season and suffered some major growing pains along the way.

It’s a different story this season.

Four starters return from a year ago, led by second-team All-Pac-12 selection Timmy Allen. Eight players in coach Larry Krystkowiak’s nine-man rotation from the 2019-20 season are back on the roster. It has Utah feeling confident about taking a leap forward from last season’s eighth place finish in the Pac-12.