Utes face tough task at Air Force

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — Following Monday night's upset win by Santa Clara at Gonzaga, Air Force now has the longest home winning streak in the nation, along with BYU.

Both the Falcons and Cougars have won 28 straight games at home, showing the rest of the nation how difficult it is to win road games in the Mountain West Conference.

Air Force has not lost at home since Feb. 19, 2005, when the Andrew Bogut-led Utes won 65-56 at Clune Arena.

Tonight the Utes have a chance to stop the streak when they take on the Falcons at 8 p.m. in a game televised on the VERSUS network.

The Utes already own a victory over the Falcons this year, an 85-79 win last month at the Huntsman Center. In that game, the Utes shot 70 percent from the field and "embarrassed" the Falcons in every way, according to coach Jeff Bzdelik.

"Utah just totally embarrassed us," he said. "We embarrassed ourselves with our play. We were very undisciplined, we got physically manhandled, we were careless with the basketball and we were outcoached. Utah beat us in every way possible."

It was only the second loss of the season for the Falcons who were ranked No. 11 at the time. Although they have since lost two more games, they are still ranked No. 14 in the latest ESPN/USA Today poll and 17th in the AP poll.

The Falcons have lost two of their last three road games, but they haven't had much trouble winning their last two home games, stomping Wyoming 88-43 and TCU 72-39.

Clune Arena can be a daunting place to win as the Utes found out a year ago when they fell behind by 27 points before losing 66-44.

"It's a tough place to play," said Ute coach Ray Giacoletti. "I think they're a much better team at home. They shoot the ball so much better at home and are more comfortable."

With a week since their last game — a home win over Colorado State — the Utes have been working on shoring up their defense as well as getting sharper offensively, according to Giacoletti.

He said the Utes will go with the same starting lineup that has produced four victories in the last six games, with Ricky Johns and Luka Drca joining Johnnie Bryant outside with Luke Nevill and Shaun Green inside.

Daniel Deane will play both the 4 and 5 spots in reserve of Green and Nevill, while Lawrence Borha, Stephen Weigh and Curtis Eatmon will see action on the perimeter.

The Falcons have a balanced lineup with four of the five starters averaging more than 32 minutes per game in conference play and between 9.2 and 14.6 points per game.

After tonight's game, the Utes return home for a game against UNLV Saturday, which has been changed to a 4 p.m. tip-off.

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