AIR FORCE ACADEMY — Luke Nevill, Utah’s lumbering 7-foot-2 center, is easy to spot on the basketball floor.
The Air Force Falcons found him with no trouble Wednesday night at Clune Arena and coach Jeff Reynolds proclaimed the Utah senior to be “a presence” against anyone.
But it was Nevill’s supporting cast that burned the Falcons in an easy 57-36 victory. The loss was the third straight in Mountain West Conference play for Air Force (9-7, 0-3) and one short of its longest conference losing streak in six years.
“We have some depth and we shared the ball pretty well tonight,” Utah coach Jim Boylen said. “We’re not good enough to play one-on-one basketball. We have to guard with physicality and communication. We have to play offense with communication and unselfish play. If we do that, we have a good basketball team.”
The Utes (11-6, 2-1) didn’t need all of the attributes Boylen talked about. The Falcons surrendered without much of an effort with one of their poorest shooting nights in six seasons.
With 27 minutes played in the game, Air Force had three field goals, including a 3-pointer by forward Matt Holland. By the time freshman center Sammy Schafer broke the ice and scored on a layup with 13:07 left in the game, the Utes were cruising 38-17.
Guard Lawrence Borha led Utah’s supporting cast with 15 points. While Nevill scored only seven points, he blocked four shots and grabbed 12 rebounds.
The broad side of a barn wasn’t big enough for the Falcons. They shot just 23.8 percent from the field and hit only 2-of-19 shots from 3-point range.
Guard Anwar Johnson led the Falcons with eight points, six coming on free throws.
“It was horrible,” Air Force center Mike McLain said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team miss as many shots as we did. They’re a very good defensive team, but there were some shots we have to hit or we won’t win a game.”
Reynolds called it one of those nights.
“When you’re shooting the ball without any confidence, that’s the first thing you look at,” Reynolds said. “Right now our players don’t have any confidence. It’s hard to put your thumb on why.”
UTAH (11-6, 2-1 MWC)
Grim 0-0 0-0 0, Nevill 1-5 5-5 7, Drca 3-5 0-0 8, Borha 4-10 6-6 15, Brown 1-6 0-0 2, Cyphers 2-4 3-3 8, Tavita 0-0 0-0 0, Green 2-5 2-2 8, Kepkay 4-11 1-2 9. Totals 17-46 17-18 57.
AIR FORCE (9-7, 0-3 MWC)
Henke 2-7 2-2 6, Holland 1-9 0-0 3, McLain 2-6 0-0 4, Washington 1-4 4-7 6, Johnson 1-9 6-9 8, Provost 0-1 0-0 0, Atkins 0-1 0-2 0, Stewart 0-0 0-0 0, Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Merriex 0-0 0-0 0, Schafer 1-2 1-2 3, Parker 2-3 1-2 6. Totals 10-42 14-24 36.
Halftime — Utah 31-14. 3-point goals — Utah 6-24 (Drca 2-4, Green 2-5, Cyphers 1-3, Borha 1-5, Brown 0-2, Kepkay 0-5), Air Force 2-19 (Parker 1-2, Holland 1-8, Schafer 0-1, Washington 0-1, McLain 0-3, Henke 0-4). Fouled out — Holland. Rebounds — Utah 44 (Nevill 12), Air Force 23 (Johnson 5). Assists — Utah 9 (Brown, Kepkay 3), Air Force 6 (Henke 3). Total fouls — Utah 23, Air Force 19. A — 2,247.
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
