The Utes haven't exactly enjoyed spectacular guard play recently, so coach Jim Boylen knows that his backcourt figures to face a strenuous test when it meets the TCU Horned Frogs at the Huntsman Center on Saturday.

"It's going to be good," he said. "We'll see how we respond to it."

The Horned Frogs have surprised the Mountain West Conference by winning three of their first four league games, largely on the strength of their high-pressure backcourt.

Junior transfer guard Henry Salter averages 15.4 points and leads the league in three-point shooting -- guard Lawrence Borha will draw the defensive assignment against him -- and the Frogs make up for poor overall shooting by making nearly 11 steals and forcing 19 turnovers per game and leading the league in offensive rebounds that result in second-chance opportunities.

"What they do, they don't have big guys, but they get the tipped rebound -- which to me is a loose ball -- because of their quickness," Boylen said. "A little bit like San Diego State. San Diego State gets a lot of tipped [rebounds] because they're long and quick. They might not get it, but they keep it alive for somebody else or they're better at the second jump than we are -- sort of the Dennis Rodman rebound."

"We're going to be prepared for it," Boylen added. "But it's different when you're playing against your scout team than it is against a team that does it every day with their top guys."