With Bryant on the bench to start the second half, Shaun Green hit three straight baskets, including a 3-pointer, to get the Utes off to a solid second-half start.

The Utes couldn't score for seven straight possessions and led just 38-31 midway through the second half when Luke Nevill made his only basket, on a dunk off a nice feed from Bryant.

Boylen has been critical of Nevill at times this year, but praised his center, who only attempted two shots and finished with seven points and 10 rebounds.

"That catch he made and that dunk was as big a play as there was in the game. I thought that got us going a little bit," Boylen said. "Luke occupies people down there. I don't think Luke gets enough credit for what he creates without scoring and that's his value."

Nevill's three-point play pushed the lead back to 10 and Tyler Kepkay and Bryant each made layups to give the Utes a 14-point lead that eventually grew to 24 by the end.

"I thought we really communicated," Boylen said. "One of the biggest problems with this team is we don't communicate like a family needs to, to be successful. I thought today we communicated."

Beside Bryant, no other players on either team scored in double figures as Lawrence Borha and Kepkay each scored eight and Green and Nevill each chipped in seven for Utah.

Andrew Henke led the Falcons with nine points off the bench, while leading scorer Tim Anderson was held to seven points on 1-of-7 from the field.

Next up for the Utes is a game against Dixie State on Wednesday as they have a bye in the MWC schedule next week. Then it's off to San Diego State for a game on Jan. 16.

GAME NOTES: Nevill became the 19th player in Ute history to score 1,000 points and grab 500 rebounds in a career as he finished with seven points and 10 rebounds on the day. He now has 1,000 points and 509 rebounds ... Luka Drca led the Utes in assists for the fourth straight game with five on the day as the Utes had 13 assists for their 16 baskets ... Utah won the rebound battle 33 to 18 ...

The Utes sank 17-of-20 free throws, led by Borha's 8-of-9. The Falcons made just 8 of 13.

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