GAME NOTES: The Utah Runnin' Utes try to remain perfect at home as they finish off their portion of the University of Utah Tournament at Huntsman Center on Saturday evening against Alabama State.

Utah, which has just one loss on the season against nationally-ranked San Diego State by a mere three points, is 4-0 in Salt Lake City thus far. The team has captured a pair of victories in this tournament against Texas-Pan American (85-48) and, on Friday, North Dakota (90-53) in order to bolster the stats quite a bit.

As for the Hornets, who are facing Utah for the first time ever, they have faced the same two opponents in the last few days as well, bowing to North Dakota on Wednesday night (75-68) before stinging UTPA yesterday in a 91-79 decision. With the victory, ASU moved back to .500.

Thanks to a 7-of-10 shooting effort behind the 3-point line in the first half against UTPA, the Hornets mounted a sizeable advantage at intermission and never looked back, winning by double figures against the Broncs. Wendell Lewis and Jamel Waters both tallied 14 points, the latter handing out eight assists, while Bobby Brown and Luther Page posted 13 points apiece and DeMarcus Robinson another 10 for Alabama State in the comfortable victory.

Even though he is playing just under 28 minutes per game, Robinson leads the group in scoring with 16.8 ppg based on the fact that he is shooting almost as well from beyond the arc (.560) as he is from the floor overall (.585) in the early going. Brown accounts for 12.3 ppg as he too shoots well out on the perimeter (.500), the team as a whole posting 43.4 percent accuracy behind the 3-point line as they produce 85.6 ppg.

Against North Dakota, the Utes ran out to an 11-2 lead to begin the meeting and never looked back, shooting a sensational 72.2 percent from the field in the first half and 66.7 percent for the game. Jakob Poeltl was a perfect 10- of-10 from the floor as he finished not only with a double-double consisting of 24 points and 12 rebounds, he also blocked five shots. Delon Wright pitched in with 23 points and five assists, followed by Brandon Taylor with 14 points and four dishes as well.

After five games, Wright leads the program in scoring and assists with 13.6 ppg and a total of 23 dishes, against only eight turnovers. In the paint, Poeltl is shooting a staggering 73.3 percent from the floor and is close to averaging a double-double with 12.2 points and 9.6 rebounds per outing. Although he is shooting only 50.0 percent at the free-throw line and has just a single assists in 117 minutes of action, Poeltl makes up for those deficiencies with 17 of the unit's 37 blocked shots thus far.

Outside of the meeting with the Aztecs, the competition on the schedule thus far for the Utes has been far from challenging, especially when you consider the team is outscoring foes by just under 27 ppg. That trend should continue tonight given the next opponent on the chopping block.