Utes are wary of surprising Falcon team

On the surface, it seems like one of the easiest games on the year, seeing how Utah has beaten Air Force 22 times in the past 23 years at the Huntsman Center.

The reality is, the annual game with the Falcons is rarely easy for the Utes and one they take very seriously.

And there are reasons why the Utes should be a little more on their toes than usual when they square off with the Falcons tonight at 7.

The Falcons are in the midst of a winning season for a change, entering tonight's game with a 10-7 record. The last time the Falcons had a winning record was back in 1977-78, although they did muster a 14-14 mark in 1988-89. Only twice since 1990 have the Falcons even won as many as 10 games.

True, the Falcons' schedule isn't the toughest in the country, but it's upgraded substantially from past years when AFA would face two or three non-Division I schools per year. Now there are none on the cadets' schedule, and they've won road games at Arkansas State, Georgia Southern and UTEP.

Air Force comes into the game with a 1-3 mark in the Mountain West Conference, having defeated UNLV at home last week. However, two of the losses were two-pointers on the road at Colorado State and Wyoming. If those games had gone the other way, the Falcons would be ahead of the Utes in the MWC standings.

Ute coach Rick Majerus won't be overlooking the Falcons, who have come close to beating his Utes several times in recent years. Last year, the Utes escaped with an overtime victory in Colorado Springs and then needed a 13-0 run to come back from a six-point deficit late in the second half in a 59-51 win in Salt Lake City.

"This is a typical Air Force team," said Majerus. "They have a certain prototype of kids who are tough, smart, gutty and physical. This team speaks to that. They're terrific shooters and half of their shots are threes. All five guys are capable of hitting threes. Their offense is run with precision, and they do a good job of playing through the clock."

The NCAA statistics show how good this Air Force team is. The Falcons rank first in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 54 points per game. They're fourth in the nation in 3-pointers made per game (9.4), seventh in 3-point percentage (41.7) and sixth in fewest turnovers per game (11.5).

Leading the way is sophomore Tim Keller, who leads the MWC in 3-point shooting at 47 percent and is also 13th in the country. Joel Gerlach is sixth in the league in 3-point shooting at 43.9 percent, while A.J. Kuhle is ninth in 3-pointers at 43.3 percent.