Utah aims to continue home success vs. struggling Eastern Washington

Utah will try to extend its hot streak at home on Saturday afternoon when it hosts Eastern Washington in a nonconference matchup in Salt Lake City.

The Utes (5-1) have won all five contests at the Huntsman Center this November and are riding a 10-game home winning streak dating back to last season.

Gabe Madsen, Utah's top scorer (21.8 points per game), led the Utes to a 94-48 victory over visiting Mississippi Valley State on Tuesday. The senior scored 27 points on a blistering 10-of-13 shooting performance with seven 3-pointers against the Delta Devils.

Miro Little added 16 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Lawson Lovering contributed 12 points and seven rebounds in his first game of the season. The 7-foot-1 center had missed the previous five games with an ankle injury.

Utah shot 55.9 percent while holding MVSU to 34 percent shooting.

It was one of a handful of blowout wins the Utes have had early on this season, which Utah coach Craig Smith believes can be beneficial in helping the team grow even if their games feel like pick-up matches at times.

"We just have to keep learning how to win," Smith said in an interview with the team's radio station.

"We've got to keep growing. You've got to keep demanding ... have discipline, toughness. We're not as smooth as we need to be. We can play so much better on the offensive end."

Eastern Washington (1-6) has lost five straight games and enters Saturday with an 0-4 record on the road.

Nic McClain leads the Eagles in scoring (16.6 points per game) and is second on the team with 5.1 rebounds per game.

Eastern Washington led in the second half of its most recent outing on Tuesday but eventually struggled en route to a 67-51 defeat at UC Santa Barbara.

"Tonight, I thought we played good defense the first 30 minutes," Eagles coach Dan Monson said. "We gave ourselves a chance to win because we defended and rebounded the best we have all season."

Eastern Washington played without starters Mason Williams (13.5 points per game) and Sebastian Hartmann (10.0 points per game).

--Field Level Media