Nov. 17, 1999

Dickie Nutt wants to verify the credentials of Utah's doctor in charge of the men's basketball program.

Whether it was the medical people or the head coach, Nutt may think somebody was stretching the truth concerning Nate Althoff. Utah's center, who recovered from a back injury just in time to play Tuesday, controlled the middle in leading the 16th-ranked Utes to a 76-43 win over ASU in the Preseason NIT opening round at the Huntsman Center.

The Utes now await the winner of tonight's Kentucky-Pennsylvania game in a quarterfinal match-up Friday. If Kentucky wins, the Utes will play in Lexington. Utah would play at home if the Wildcats lose.

For two weeks, Utah Coach Rick Majerus has bellowed on about Althoff's injury-prone nature. But Althoff went through a full practice for the first time in several days Monday, prompting Majerus to start him.

The 6-foot-11 fourth-year junior scored Utah's first four points and went on to post a career high 14 points in 20 minutes.

"Being the doctor that I am, Althoff is not hurt," said Nutt, the Arkansas State coach, whose brother Houston is the University of Arkansas football coach. "Their ranking is well deserved, there's no question about that."

With Althoff, the Utes were physically far superior than Arkansas State, even without injured star Hanno Mottola. The sizable height advantageshowed, as Utah dominated the boards 47-29.

The Indians, who lost to Utah in last season's NCAA Tournament, returned only one starter. They led 2-0, but then the Utes ran off 11 unanswered points.

Utah also closed the first half strong, going on a 14-2 run over the last six minutes.

In the second half, Arkansas State went 11 minutes with only one field goal and three free throws. After scoring 21 points in last season's Utah game, Arkansas State 5-6 guard Chico Fletcher suffered from his team's drop in talent and scored only four points.

"The effort was excellent," Majerus said. "It was fun to see the guys come together."

Majerus said he was not pulling any tricks with Althoff. A Utah press release issued before the game said Althoff was progressing well and could be available in a limited role.

"We certainly weren't keeping him in abeyance as some kind of secret weapon," said Majerus, who credited Althoff's good game to experience.

But he certainly was a silent weapon. Althoff was not allowed to talk to the press after the game.

Alex Jensen and Jeff Johnsen were the only players made available to the news media. Both players were quick to praise Althoff.

"Nate was huge," said Jensen, who had a game-high 14 rebounds. "He didn't practice up until Monday. Other than that he mabye practiced once or twice. We really needed that, especially with Hanno being out. In games like this, when he's the biggest guy out there, he should dominate like he did."

Johnsen also was sharp in his first official game since returning from an LDS church mission last June. Coming off the bench, the sophomore posted career highs in rebounds (10), steals (three) and assists (five).

"All they tell me is to get on those boards and get rebounds," said Johnsen.

The Utes are scheduled to leave today for Lexington. If Kentucky loses, the Utes would be back on the airplane.