AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo.—Unfortunately for the Air Force men’s basketball team, its shooting inside Clune Arena Wednesday night was as bitter cold as the Colorado night outside.
Utah’s Lawrence Borha scored 15 points and Air Force shot a season-low 23.8 percent from the field (10-of-42) as the visiting Utes handed the Falcons their third consecutive loss, 57-36.
Nothing went right for Air Force (9-7 overall, 0-3 Mountain West Conference), which has now dropped five of its last six games. The Falcons, who entered the game as the nation’s third-best 3-point shooting team, connected on just 2-of-19 shots from behind the arc and missed 14 consecutive 3-point attempts after starting the game 1-for-2.
“We just couldn’t make shots,” Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said. “When you’re not shooting the ball with any confidence, that’s the first thing, and we’re just not confident right now.”
Utah (11-6, 2-1) used a 12-0 run midway through the first half to open a double-digit lead and held a 31-14 advantage at the half.
The Utes held the Falcons without a field goal for 18:31—nearly half the game—from midway through the first half until the 13:07 mark in the second half.
“We just came out flat from the beginning,” said Air Force senior starting forward Matt Holland, who was 1-of-9 from the field. “We just missed a lot of shots we normally make. We’ve really been struggling lately.”
His teammate, starting center Mike McLain, agreed.
“This is the worst shooting night I’ve ever seen,” McLain said. “We’ll learn from this like we have from our other losses. We can’t dwell on it and are not going to look at it as anything but a learning experience.”
Utah dominated virtually every facet of the game, using its size advantage to outrebound the Falcons 44-23 and hitting 17-of-18 free throws compared with Air Force’s 14-of-24. Luke Nevill, the Utes’ 7-2 center, grabbed 12 of those 44 rebounds, while guard Carlon Brown added 11.
Anwar Johnson had eight points to pace Air Force, which ended the night as the only Mountain West team without a conference victory.
