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PROVO, Utah _ A new era of men's basketball at the University of Central Arkansas begins Tuesday night, with a formidable challenge in the season opener.

The Bears, under new head coach John Shulman, will take on the Brigham Young Cougars at 8 p.m. (CST) from the Marriott Center. BYU finished 23-11 overall last season and went 16-2 at home. The Cougars beat four ranked teams _ including Kansas _ and went 1-1 in the Big 12 Tournament before losing to Duquesne in the NCAA Tournament.

They were picked 13th in the Big 12 last season but finished in a tie for fifth. This season they are picked ninth in the 16-team league.

"We're excited to start the season, and we have an easy way to start it," Shulman joked at Media Day. "We're going on the road to play two high-level opponents in BYU and Utah. 

"My first game in Division I as a GA was at BYU. And we played Shawn Bradley at BYU in his first game. And we beat BYU at BYU. They still play in the same place. It's gorgeous, they'll be 18,000 to 20,000 people in there. It will be an amazing environment. 

"So how do you get these (young) guys ready? You just throw them in that environment. to play a potential Top 10 pick in the NBA draft.  We will not back down to anyone at any place or any time. We're excited, we're getting ready, and we're excited to get on that plane and get going with the season and see where this takes us."  

The Bears have nearly a completely new look, and not just with the coaching staff, which feature one returnee in Associate Head Coach Brock Widders. UCA returns just three scholarship players in senior guard/forward Elias Cato, junior forward Glory Etim and sophomore guard Javion Guy-King. UCA added 12 new players to the roster, with several expected to contribute immediately.

UCA senior Elias Cato (6-9, 220) is the top returnee for the Bears, after averaging 11.9 points and 6.1 rebounds a year ago, while shooting 41.8 percent from three-point range and 46.4 overall. Center Glory Etim (6-9, 230) started 28 of 31 games last season and averaged a team-high 7.5 rebounds and 1.0 blocked shots per game.

Three of the newcomers are guards Layne Taylor (Farmington, Ark.), Ty Robinson (Hot Springs, Ark.) and Brayden Fagbemi (Johns Hopkins transfer). Robinson was named the Most Valuable Player at last summer's Arkansas High School All-Star Game, played at UCA's Farris Center.  A 6-foot-4 guard who finished his career with the Wolves as the school's all-time leading scorer, Robinson averaged 26 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists as a senior while shooting 42 percent from three-point range and 86 percent at the free-throw line.

Taylor, a 5-11, 180-pound point guard for the Cardinals, is the No. 3 all-time scorer in Arkansas high school history with 3,372 career points. He was the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas Preps Player of the Year last season.

Taylor, who led the Cardinals to a runnerup finish at the Class 4A State Tournament last month, averaged 25.3 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists while shooting 39 percent from three-point range as a senior. His Farmington teams had an overall record of 124-12 in his four seasons.

Fagbemi, from Naperville, Ill., played in 27 games last season for the Blue Jays and started 26 as a freshman. He averaged 13.4 points a game, second on the team, and made 46 three-pointers. Fagbemi also averaged 5.7 rebounds and had a team-high 99 assists (3.6 per game).

Fagbemi was named D3Hoops.com Region V Rookie of the Year and the Centennial Conference Rookie of the Year.

"We are trying to rebuild a program to get back to the prominence of the good old days here at Central Arkansas," said Shulman. "And it's been a process. But it's been a good process, and we'll continue to work. We finally got some positivity the other day in our last scrimmage, and I think we're heading in the right direction, if we can get guys healthy."

UCA continues its Power 4 road trip at Utah on Thursday night in Salt Lake City.