Falcons still on Top of MWC

In yet another Mountain West Conference win, the Air Force Falcons beat the Utah Utes 62-49. The Falcons did not win in their usual dominating fashion but it was convincing.

The Falcons started very strong as they have grown so accustomed too, three quick layups and a clean three and the Falcons are up by 7. But the Utes are a good team are very well coached and are used to winning. They were never out of the game until the last few minutes when AFA's defense took over and the offense found new legs. It was a game that matched the hype around Colorado Springs and around the college scene in general. No one was taking the Falcons for granted and Coach Rick Majerus certainly was prepared... but so was Joe Scott, the Falcons now celebrity head coach. The game probably would not be as close as it was had the Falcons shooting been as hot as it was against BYU but it wasn't and the defense had to dig deep. The Utes outshot the Falcons, 55.3 percent to 51.4 percent, but the Air Force defense prevailed. The Falcons held Utah's phenom, Nick Jacobson, to 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting. The top offensive player for Air Force was A.J. Kuhle who scored 17 points on 5-of-8. AJ's shooting played a big part in leading Air Force to a 62-49 win over the Utes and keeping the Falcons at number one in the Mountain West Conference. After trailing 29-24 at the half, Utah rallied to their only lead in the game at 40-38 with 10:05 to play after a 3-pointer by Richard Chaney. Air Force's Tim Keller (16 points) got the lead back, for good, with a pretty layup with 8:13 left. Joel Gerlach responded with six points at critical points in the second half after a less than par performance for Geralch in the 1st half. Monday's game matched the nation's top two scoring defenses, Air Force won the battle by forcing 20 turnovers while committing only nine. Air Force is now 14-2, 4-0 MWC and has won 12 consecutive games. Utah is 15-5, 3-2 MWC and lost its second straight conference game. Next game is at San Diego State, 31 Jan 04.