Utah Men's Basketball Notes - Game #20 - University of Utah Athletics

Jan. 25, 2004

Game #20

Utah Runnin' Utes (15-4, 3-1) vs. Air Force Falcons (13-2, 3-0 MWC)

Jan. 26 * 7:05 p.m. (MST) * Clune Arena (5,939) * Colorado Springs, Colo.

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The Game At A Glance

Utah Head Coach: Rick Majerus           Air Force Head Coach: Joe ScottAlma Mater: Marquette, 1970             Alma Mater: Princeton, 1987Record at Utah: 323-94 (15th Season)    Record at Air Force: 42-58 (4th Season)Overall Record: 422-146 (20th Season)   Overall Record: 42-58 (4th Season)
Television: KJZZ-TV 14 in Salt Lake City.Steve Brown (play-by-play) and Thurl Bailey (analyst).
Radio: Utah Sports Network (KALL-700 AM in Salt Lake City and affiliate stations).On the Internet at www.UtahUtes.com and www.kall700.com.Bill Marcroft (play-by-play), Mark Rydalch (analyst) and Brad Stone (host).
Series Record: Utah leads 40-7Utah's Record Home/Away/Neutral: 23-1/15-6/2-0Last Meeting: Utah won 42-38 on March 13, 2003 in the MWC Tournament quarterfinals.

After This

The Utes host BYU on Saturday at 1:05 p.m. (MST) to open a three-game homestand in the Huntsman Center. Utah also takes on San Diego State on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 3:07 p.m. (MST) and UNLV on Monday, Feb. 9 at 7:07 p.m.

Quickly On Utah

Utah (15-4, 3-1 MWC) closes out a two-game Mountain West Conference road swing against Air Force (13-2, 3-0 MWC) on Monday at 7:05 p.m. (MST) in Colorado Springs, Colo. The game will be televised by KJZZ-TV 14 in Salt Lake City and broadcast on KALL-700 AM and the Utah Sports Network. The Utes are 4-2 on opponents' homecourts this season.

The Utes opened the road trip with a 70-54 loss at New Mexico on Saturday afternoon, ending a nine-game winning steak. Last weekend the Utes got a pair of home wins, defeating Wyoming (60-49) on Saturday and Colorado State (67-49) on Monday night in Salt Lake City. Utah has won 12 of its last 14 games.

Senior guard Nick Jacobson (6-4, 206) leads the Utes in scoring (15.6 ppg), hitting 46.5 percent of his three-point attempts. Freshman forward Andrew Bogut (6-10, 233) is second on the team in scoring (12.0 ppg), and is first in both rebounding (10.2 rpg) and blocked shots (19). The native of Melbourne, Australia, has nine double-doubles this season and is shooting 62.8 percent from the field. Sophomore forward Richard Chaney (6-4, 195) is third in scoring (11.9 ppg), shooting 52.7 percent from the field and 47.1 percent from three-point range. Sophomore guard Tim Drisdom (6-2, 212) leads the Utes in assists (3.5 apg).

Scouting Air Force

The Falcons are 13-2 overall and in first place in the Mountain West with a 3-0 record. Air Force is 7-0 at home this season. The Academy has won 11 consecutive games, winning by an average of 19.2 points per game during that streak.

Junior guard Tim Keller (6-3, 185) ranks 17th in the conference in scoring (10.8 ppg), fourth in free throw percentage (79.6) and fifth three-pointers made per game (1.93). Sophomore guard Antoine Hood (6-5, 187) is 18th in the MWC in scoring (10.6 ppg), second in field goal percentage (61.3) and ninth in three-point percentage (43.8). Sophomore center Nick Welch (6-8, 215) ranks eighth in the league in field goal percentage (58.4), first in three-point percentage (55.2) and third in steals (17). Senior guard/forward A.J. Kuhle (6-5, 189) ranks eighth in the MWC in assists (3.5 apg) and first in assist/turnover ratio (2.60).

The Falcons rank first in the Mountain West in scoring (62.8 ppg), first in scoring defense (47.0 ppg), eighth in rebound margin (-4.7), first in field goal percentage (50.1), second in three-point percentage (38.8), first in threes made per game (9.00), first in turnover margin (+6.60) and first in assist/turnover ratio (1.37). In the NCAA rankings released on Jan. 20, Air Force ranked first in scoring defense (47.4 ppg), 17th in scoring margin (+14.7 ppg), 15th in field goal percentage (49.1), 11th in three-point field goals per game (8.8) and fifth in turnovers per game (11.4).

Utes With Best Road Record in MWC Play

Heading into Monday's games, Utah has the best road record in the five-year history of the Mountain West Conference at 16-14 (.533). Wyoming is in second place at 15-15 (.500) and UNLV is third 13-17 (.433).

Falcon Head Coach Joe Scott

Joe Scott is 42-58 in his fourth season at Air Force. Scott has improved his record with the Falcons all three previous seasons, leading them to an 8-21 record in 2000-01, a 9-19 record in '02-03 and a 12-16 mark last season. His teams have gone 3-11 in the MWC all three years, last season placing eighth.

Scott came to the Academy from Princeton, where he spent eight years as an assistant under Hall-of-Famer Pete Carrill and Bill Carmody. Scott was a four-year lettermen and a three-year starter at point guard for Princeton. Scott helped the Tigers to the 1984 Ivy League championship and a first round NCAA Tournament victory over San Diego.

Utah-Air Force Series Notes

* Utah and Air Force meet for the 48th time on Monday. The series dates back to a 108-57 win by the Runnin' Utes on Dec. 23, 1965 in Salt Lake City.

* The Runnin' Utes have won five in a row and 15 of the last 16 games from the Falcons. The last five games in the series have been decided by an average of seven points with one game going to overtime. Utah won all three games last season, winning 45-35 on Feb. 1 in Salt Lake City, 57-52 on March 3 in Colorado Springs, Colo., and 42-38 on March 13 in the MWC Tournament quarterfinals.

* In conference play, the Utes have a 35-7 advantage.

* In Colorado Springs, Colo., the Utes are 15-6. Utah has won six of the last seven and had taken four in a row before losing 71-60 on March 1, 2001. Last season, the Utes won in Colorado Springs 57-52 on March 3 to push its streak to two in a row at the Academy.

* Utah's most decisive win over Air Force under Rick Majerus was 26 points (87-61) on Feb. 18, 1993 in Salt Lake City.

* Air Force has only one win against Utah with Rick Majerus on the bench. The Falcons won 91-89 on Feb. 19, 1994 in overtime in Colorado Springs. When Air Force won in 2000-01, Dick Hunsaker was serving as Utah's acting head coach.

* Rick Majerus is 21-1 against Air Force all-time and 20-1 during his tenure at Utah.

* Joe Scott is 1-6 against Utah and 0-5 head-to-head against Rick Majerus.

Last Meeting

Tim Frost scored 12 points, including four free throws in the final 14 seconds, to lead top-seeded Utah past No. 8 seed Air Force 42-38 in the quarterfinals of the 2003 Mountain West Conference Tournament.

Nick Jacobson had 10 points for the Utes, hitting 2-of-4 treys. Tim Drisdom had seven rebounds while Marc Jackson got six to lead the effort on the boards.

The Utes took their first and only lead of the game with 2:28 left after trailing by as many as eight points in the first half. Utah also survived a 6:58 scoring drought and made only one field goal in a 10:52 span in the second half.

The Falcons (12-16) had a chance to tie the game, trailing 38-36 with 15 seconds left, but Joel Gerlach tossed up a wild layup that hit only the backboard.

Both teams shot poorly all night. Utah was 12-of-31 from the field for 38.7 percent, while Air Force was 13-of-42 for 31 percent. The Falcons also made just 3-of-15 three-point tries. However, Utah tied a season-best effort by shooting 57.1 percent from three-point range, hitting 4-of-7.

A.J. Kuhle led Air Force with 12 points and eight rebounds. Gerlach also scored 12.

After trailing 21-18 at halftime, the Utes tied it 23-23 with 17:32 left in the game. The Falcons then went on a 5-0 run and did not trail until the Utes finally took the lead 35-33 on two free throws by Bryant Markson with 2:28 left.

Jacobson Stroking "J"s

Senior guard Nick Jacobson (6-4, 206) has been a third team all-Mountain West selection the last two seasons. This season, he leads the Utes in scoring (15.6 ppg), hitting 46.5 percent (47-of-101) from beyond the arc and 81.4 percent from the free throw line.

* In the NCAA statistical rankings released Jan. 20, Jacobson was 38th in free throw percentage (85.5).

* He has not scored less than 18 points in four conference games this season, averaging 20.5 points per game in league play.

* Jacobson has scored at least 20 points in six of the last 10 games-including four consecutive games Dec. 19 through Jan. 3. He has also been in double figures the last four games and nine of the last 10. During this 10-game stretch, Jacobson has shot 49.6 percent from the field and 46.8 percent (29-for-62) from three-point range to average 19.8 points per game. He had a career-high 28 points against Weber State on Jan. 3, hitting 8-of-12 field goals, 5-of-7 threes and 7-of-7 free throws in 39 minutes. He has had seven 20-point games this season.

* Jacobson has already climbed into 18th place in career scoring at Utah with 1,370 points. He is one of just 30 players in the 1,000-point club and currently ranks behind Jerry Chambers (1,400 points).

* A prolific shooter from long range, Jacobson ranks first at Utah in both career three-pointers made (235) and attempted (544), passing Keith Van Horn for the top spot in both categories this season. His career three point percentage of 43.2 ranks second all-time.

Boasting Of Bogut

Freshman forward Andrew Bogut (6-10, 233) is second on the team in scoring (12.0 ppg) and is first in both rebounding (10.2 rpg) and blocked shots (19). He is shooting 62.8 percent from the field.

* Bogut is one of five players in the Mountain West Conference averaging a double-double.

* Bogut has nine double-doubles this season-including two in conference play-breaking the Mountain West freshman record set by Tom Bellairs of Air Force in 1999-2000. His most recent double dip came with 13 points and 17 rebounds in a career-high tying 35 minutes against New Mexico on Saturday. His 17 rebounds tied the 14th-best single-game mark in school history. Bogut also had 18 rebounds against Minnesota earlier this season.

* Against Wyoming on Jan. 17, Bogut had a career-best 20 points (8-of-13 FG, 4-of-12 FT) and 16 rebounds. He also had a career-best five blocked shots against the Cowboys.

* Bogut has 13 double-figure scoring games and 10 double-figure rebound games. He has scored in double-figures nine of the last 12 games.

* In the NCAA statistical rankings released on Jan. 20, Bogut was 18th in rebounds per game (9.8).

* Ranking third on the team with 39 assists (2.0 apg), Bogut led the Utes with five assists against both Texas Tech and Utah State to set personal season highs.

* The Melbourne native led Australia to the 2003 FIBA Junior World Championships in Greece in July, earning tournament MVP honors.

Game #19 Rewind

Center Danny Granger scored 28 points Saturday, leading New Mexico to a 70-54 win over Utah at The Pit. Granger hit 10-of-16 shots and added a team-high four assists, as the Lobos (10-6, 1-2 MWC) snapped Utah's nine-game winning streak.

Nick Jacobson had 20 points while Andrew Bogut posted his ninth double-double with 13 points and 17 rebounds to lead Utah (15-4, 3-1 MWC).

New Mexico coach Ritchie McKay threw a changeup at the Utes' defense by frequently using Granger at the point to start the Lobos' half-court offense. Granger responded by hitting a pair of 15-foot jumpshots and a three-pointer in the game's first five minutes.

Granger also had six rebounds, four assists and no turnovers in 35 minutes on the court.

The Lobos played a nearly flawless first half. They hit seven threes, shot 54 percent and had just one turnover en route to a 38-18 lead.

Granger sparked a 9-0 run early in the second half with a left-handed bankshot and an off-balance layup that put the Lobos ahead 49-20 with 14:51 left in the game.

Jacobson, who scored 15 of his points in the second half, led the Utes' biggest surge of the game, a 13-2 run that cut the Lobos' lead to 53-41 with 6:31 left. However, a three-pointer by Troy DeVries and three free throws by Granger sandwiched around a trey by Jacobson pushed the lead to 59-45.

New Mexico finished with eight three-pointers against the second best defensive team in the country. The Utes came into the game giving up an average of 54 points a game.

DeVries added 14 points and David Chiotti scored 13 for the Lobos. Bryant Markson missed the game for the Utes while attending the funeral of his uncle in California.

Getting Defensive

One of the trademarks of a Utah team during the Rick Majerus era is a stifling half-court defense. Since 1989-90, Utah has ranked in the top 30 in the nation 11 times in scoring defense, nine times in rebound margin, eight times in field goal percentage defense and eight times in scoring margin.

* In the NCAA statistical rankings released on Jan. 20, Utah ranked second nation in scoring defense (53.9 ppg), 27th in field goal percentage defense (39.1) and 14th in rebound margin (+7.6 rpg). Currently, Ute opponents are averaging 54.8 points per game and shooting 39.8 percent. Utah also has a +7.6 rebound margin.

* The Utes have outrebounded 17 of 19 opponents this season.

* Utah has held 10 of its 19 opponents to less than 40 percent shooting from the field. Only seven teams have reached 60 points and nine opponents have been held to under 50 points this season. Savannah State shot 18.2 percent against the Utes on Dec. 13, which is the lowest mark for a Utah opponent all-time. Only two teams have shot better than 50 percent from the field against the Utes this season: UConn (62.3) and New Mexico on Jan. 24 (53.5).

* Utah has not allowed an opponent to score 80 points in 114 consecutive games that have ended in regulation. The last team to score 80 points on the Utes in a 40-minute game was Wyoming (88) on Feb. 28, 2000 in Laramie, Wyo.

From Beyond The Arc

Utah has connected on at least 40 percent of its three-point field goals in 12 games this season-including seven of the last nine-winning all of them. Conversely, when the Utes shoot under 40 percent from beyond the arc, they are 3-4. Before hitting 22.7 percent against New Mexico on Saturday, Utah was shooting 47.4 percent (63-for-133) from beyond the arc in the previous eight games.

* In the NCAA statistical rankings released on Jan. 20, Utah ranked fourth in three-point field goal percentage (41.7). Utah is currently shooting 40.1 percent from three-point range.

* The Utes have hit at least half of their three-point tries five times this season: Southern Utah (57.9) with a season-best percentage, UNLV on Jan. 12 (53.8), Pepperdine (51.9) with a season-high 27 attempts, Colorado (50.0) and Stony Brook (50.0).

* Utah made nine three-pointers in the first 20 minutes against Pepperdine, one off the school record for a half. The Utes also had 14 three-pointers in the game, which tied the second-best mark in school history achieved six other times.

Ute Items

* The Utes have outscored all four of its Mountain West Conference opponents in the second half by an average of 8.8 points.

* Utah ranked 16th in the NCAA in field goal percentage (49.1) as of Jan. 20. Before shooting 40.7 percent in its loss to New Mexico on Saturday, Utah had shot 51.3 percent from the field and 49.3 percent from three-point range over the previous nine games.

* The Utes are 12-0 when scoring at least 60 points this season and 12-0 when holding their opponents to under 60 points.

* Utah has made significant progress at the free throw line. After shooting just 26.8 percent (11-of-41) from the stripe against Stony Brook, Texas Tech and UConn (getting losses in the later two games), Utah has shot 74.2 percent (196-of-264) in the last 14 games. The Utes shot a season-best 97.1 percent (11-of-12) from the line against Whitworth. Utah is currently shooting 68.3 percent at the line this season.

* Turnovers have been a problem for the Utes, who are averaging 14.5 per game. Utah has had a positive assist/turnover ratio in just six of the 19 games this season. Utah averaged 18.0 turnovers during the first five games, including a season-high 21 against Georgia State in the opener. Since that opening stretch, Utah has improved slightly by averaging 13.4 turnovers over the last 14 games. The Utes had a season-low nine turnovers against both New Mexico on Jan. 24 and Wyoming on Jan. 17. Utah has also had a positive assist/turnover ratio in four of the last eight games.

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