Utes win conference opener against Air Force

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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Johnnie Bryant scored a season-high 22 points to lead the Utah to a 58-36 victory over Air Force on Saturday.

The Utes (9-4) won their fifth straight home game despite failing to score for nearly eight minutes to start the game, shooting just 5-for-14 before halftime and not getting a basket from anybody except Bryant until early in the second half.

Forward Shaun Green snapped that stretch with a 3-pointer with 17:46 remaining, and gave the Utes their first standard two-point basket and a 34-25 lead with a lay-up less than a minute later. The Utes also made 14 of 17 free throws in the first half, hitting 17 of 20 overall, compared to just 8 for 13 for the smaller Falcons. Utah pulled away by holding the Falcons to 3-for-18 shooting in the second half.

Andrew Henke scored nine points to lead the Falcons (8-6), who suffered their lowest-scoring game of the season and lost for the fourth straight time on the road. The Utes had not held an opponent to so few points since beating the Falcons 45-35 on Feb. 1, 2003.

Center Luke Nevill scored seven points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and became the 19th player in Utah history to score 1,000 points and grab 500 rebounds in his career.