Saturday night the Utah Jazz got more than they expected out of the center position.

Kyrylo Fesenko, starting in the place of an ill Mehmet Okur against visiting New Orleans, fouled out the night before in about nine minutes of play. Saturday, instead of battling the referees, Fesenko gave the Hornets all they could handle during a 106-86 Jazz victory in EnergySolutions Arena.

In the 7-footer's career-high 44 minutes, Fesenko scored 11 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked three shots. He also turned the ball over five times, but who's counting?

So far this season, when Fesenko starts the Jazz are 5-0.

"He'll probably pass out in a couple of minutes," teammate Carlos Boozer said. "I'm proud of him."

Fesenko was to exhilarated to be tired. The most he had ever played in an NBA game prior to Saturday was 34 minutes.

"I guess I'm tired," he said. "But it feels so good.

"I was expecting to play, not [44] minutes."

Fesenko also remained somewhat grounded about his performance as Utah dominated from the start.

"I got blocked two times," he said.

Utah and Fesenko opened quickly, jumping to an 8-2 lead with Fesenko contributing two baskets. He wound up playing nearly the entire period.

It was arguably Fesenko's best all-around game in a Jazz uniform since coming to Utah three years ago. Mostly, his outings have been short, foul-plagued affairs.

"[Fesenko] had good minutes out there," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. "He's gradually becoming more dedicated to what he has to do. He was a young man when he came here and maybe he became frustrated.

"He's a huge body."

Fesenko was just one of several Jazz players who picked up the slack for Okur. C.J. Miles hit his first eight shots and finished with 19 points, while Paul Millsap scored a game-high 22.

The secret, Fesenko said, pointing to his head, was not to sweat the little things, like officials.

"Keep my mind on the bigger target," he said. "I did a lot of homework in my mind [before the game]. I guess I did it right."

martyr@sltrib.com