Air Force Defeats Runnin' Utes, 54-49

Saturday, February 5

Salt Lake City

6:00 PM

University of Utah

Air Force

2/5/2011 12:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Feb. 5, 2011

Box Score | Quotes | Notes

SALT LAKE CITY - Sophomore guard Shawn Glover poured in a career-high 15 points but the University of Utah men's basketball team (10-13, 3-6 MWC) lost to Air Force (13-9, 4-5 MWC), 54-49, in a Mountain West Conference game Saturday at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.

In the loss, the Utes held a slight advantage in shooting over the Falcons, 39.5% (17-of-43) to 38.5% (20-of-52), and also had a 6-4 advantage in blocks. Utah posted a season low in points for the second consecutive game after a 67-54 loss at UNLV on Wednesday. The Utes fell to 14-1 over the last two years, including a 6-1 mark this season, when holding their opponents under 64 points.

Glover scored a career-high 15 points, which was also a game-high mark, on a 5-of-8 shooting performance from the floor. The Cedar Hill, Texas native connected on five of his seven 3-point attempts. Glover made his first five shots in the ballgame, all from 3-point range.

Josh Watkins and Will Clyburn both chipped in eight points apiece. Clyburn also pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds while Watkins collected four rebounds. Freshman wing J.J. O'Brien equaled his career high with three assists.

Junior center David Foster was credited with a game-high five blocks and now has 191 over his career, which stands just 14 rejections shy of tying Luke Nevill's Utah career record of 205 from 2005-09. Foster also had a presence on the glass, collecting six rebounds.

With Utah trailing 5-4 at the outset of the first half, Air Force put together an 11-0 run to take an early 16-4 advantage. The Utes countered with six consecutive points to cut the deficit to six thanks to a pair of 3-point baskets by Glover and Watkins. The Falcons worked their lead back to 10 points (23-13). Five consecutive points by the Utes cut the Air Force lead in half (23-18) and Utah went to the locker room with an identical deficit (31-26). The Utes outshot the Falcons 47.4% (9-of-19) to 44.4% (12-of-27) and held a 3-1 advantage in blocks. Glover connected on all three of his attempts from 3-point range for a team-high nine points, while Watkins went 2-for-3 from the floor for six points.

The Utes grabbed the first three points of the second half to pull within a basket, but the Falcons built their advantage back to six points after going on a 5-0 spurt to assume a 38-29 lead. After trailing 48-41, Utah pieced together five unanswered points to come within two points at 48-46. Unfortunately, a key putback by Air Force's Evan Washington gave the Falcons a 50-46 lead en route to a 53-46 victory.

Air Force was led by Zach Bohannon, who had an impressive all-around performance with three new career highs: 12 points, eight boards and five assists.

The Utes continue their MWC schedule Tuesday at San Diego State. Tip-off from Fort Viejas Arena is slated for 8:30 p.m. MT. The game will be televised live on The Mtn.