Chasing MWC title, and chasing AFA

The Utah basketball team has played for a lot of championships over the past 15 years with many of the crucial games being played on the Huntsman Center floor. Never in their wildest dreams, however, did the Utes believe they'd ever play a critical, possible championship-deciding, late-season game against Air Force.

Yet that's what the Utes (19-6, 7-3) are facing today when they take on the surprising Falcons (18-4, 8-1).

The game is huge for both teams. A win by the Falcons can almost wrap up the Mountain West Conference title for a team picked for last place and go a long ways toward securing an NCAA berth for the school for the first time in 42 years.

On the other hand, a win by Utah puts it right on the heels of the Falcons with three games left in the MWC season and in a solid position to claim a share of its 11th title in the past 14 years.

Here's the situation: Air Force stands 8-1 in league play with three road wins to its credit and three road games left, including today. The Utes are 7-3 with two road wins and two road games left, at BYU and San Diego State. If Utah wins today, it will be just a half game behind AFA, which has to play in Provo against BYU on Monday night.

Utah interim coach Kerry Rupp, like former coach Rick Majerus, prefers not to get into the what-ifs concerning the MWC race. But he knows what his team needs to do to win today and the main thing is to take advantage of the Utes' height.

"Our best opportunity to win is to get the ball inside more," Rupp said.

That means freshman Andrew Bogut and senior Tim Frost, who are both 6-foot-10 (or taller in the case of Bogut) and tower over their Falcon counterparts.

Bogut, in particular, can make a difference in this game. Last month at Air Force, he played perhaps his worst game of the season. He had as many turnovers as points (four) and only grabbed three rebounds in 21 minutes of action. Afterward, Majerus, in his final interview as Ute coach, said he was disappointed that "one guy didn't come to play," obviously referring to Bogut.

Bogut can't say why he struggled in the earlier AFA game since he isn't allowed to speak to the media. But he has been playing better lately and even had five assists and four blocked shots in his last outing.

Rupp said Bogut needs to receive the ball inside more, especially considering he's made 15 of 22 field goals over the past two games. Any player who shoots 70 percent from the field should get more chances.