Nevill leads Utah to upset win over Air Force

Johnnie Bryant scored 18 points, Shaun Green tallied 15 points and Ricky Johns donated 14 for the Utes (6-12, 1-4 MWC), who won for the first time since routing Virginia, 94-70, on December 20. They had lost six straight games since that victory.

Air Force entered the Huntsman Center flying on the opposite side of the spectrum, winners of 13 in a row since a loss to Duke in Kansas City.

Jacob Burtschi scored 21 points and Dan Nwaelele posted 20 for the Falcons (17-2, 4-1), who received just two points from starting center Nick Welch.

Air Force lost despite shooting 56.7 percent in the second half, mainly because the basket looked as big as the Salt Lake for the Utes, who drained 70.7 percent of their shots on the night including a 16-of-22 effort in the second half.

Johns’ jumper pushed Utah to an early 14-5 lead, and Lawrence Borha’s mid- range shot made the score 25-10 with 5:33 left.

Utah led 31-21 at the half.

After seeing the edge dwindle to six, the Utes moved the lead back to a comfortable margin at 47-33 on two free throws by Green with 12:32 left.

Air Force made a push, pulling within 55-50 on Burtschi’s three-pointer with 8:15 on the clock.

The lead moved back out to a dozen at 73-61, but Nwaelele’s layup gave the Falcons hope at 78-72 with 1:13 left to play.

However, Utah made its foul shots down the stretch to pull off the upset.

Game Notes

Utah leads the all-time series, 43-11...Air Force dropped its first true road contest of the season...Borha donated 13 points in the victory...Matt McCraw had 19 points in the loss...Attendance was 9,297.