GAME NOTES: The Utah Runnin' Utes try to extend their win streak to three in a row as they host North Dakota as part of the University of Utah Tournament at the Huntsman Center.

Utah, which lost to 16th-ranked San Diego State back on Nov. 18 on the road, has responded by notching back-to-back victories. After being held to only 53 points by the Aztecs, a team which the Utes used to contend with in the Mountain West Conference before moving to the Pac-12, Utah has opened up the offense with 88 points against UC Riverside and 85 in a 37-point victory versus Texas-Pan American in the first round of this tournament.

As for North Dakota, which continues to operate without the use of a nickname, it has just a single win in three tries, the lone victory coming against Mayville State (76-39) 10 days ago. More recently, the team turned back Alabama State on Wednesday by a score of 75-68 in order to reach the .500 mark.

Following this first-ever meeting between the two schools, Utah will clash with Alabama State on Saturday and UND will size up Texas-Pan American to close out the event.

North Dakota scored the first points of the game against the Hornets and never looked back, building a 42-21 advantage at the break before having to hold on down the stretch for the victory. Jaron Nash recorded a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds, followed by Lenny Antwi off the bench with 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting behind the 3-point line. Chad Calcaterra accounted for another 10 points as the team converted 38.5 percent from the floor and still came out on top.

Nash has been a dominating force for UND in the paint early on, leading the team in both scoring (16.8 ppg) and rebounding (8.8 rpg), although his scoring could certainly be higher if he were shooting better than 57.7 percent at the free-throw line. North Dakota as a whole is holding opponents to just 40.3 percent shooting from the field and 32.8 percent out on the perimeter.

Utah actually trailed the Broncs about seven minutes into their meeting, but that was before the Utes dialed up the effort at the offensive end of the floor and led 50-26 at the break. The Utes ended up shooting 59.1 percent from the field in the meeting, including 8-of-13 behind the 3-point line. Kyle Kuzma came off the bench to produce 14 points, Delon Wright tacked on 12 and Jordan Loveridge 11 points, while fellow starter Jakob Poeltl posted eight points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots.

Kuzma has been the leading scorer in each of the last two games for the Utes, but after four outings he is sill posting only 8.5 ppg which places him fifth on the scoring list. Loveridge (11.5 ppg), Wright (11.3) and Brandon Taylor (10.8) are all ahead of Kuzma at the moment, which just goes to show how flexible the lineup can be in any game.

Make no mistake, the Utes are a group that can produce some very impressive offensive numbers, while at the same time keeping opponents at a comfortable distance. Expect that to be the case in the next few games in this tournament.