AFA basketball: Falcons fail to take advantage once again

After taking nationally ranked New Mexico to the wire on Saturday, the question surrounding the Air Force basketball team was whether it would build on its best performance in Mountain West Conference play.

The answer? A resounding “No.”

The Falcons fumbled an opportunity against a struggling Utah team, losing 54-43 in front of a borderline morbid announced crowd of 1,862 at Clune Arena.

“We definitely didn’t take a step forward tonight,” said Air Force senior forward/center Grant Parker, who scored a team-high 11 points. “And I don’t know exactly why we didn’t come out and play better.”

The loss was Air Force’s sixth in a row, and its 27th in its past 28 Mountain West Conference regular season contests. With it, the Falcons fell to 9-17 and 1-12 in league play. Utah, which entered the game having lost five of its past seven, improved to 13-14 and pulled into a tie with Colorado State for sixth place in the MWC at 6-7.

Air Force trailed just 29-28 after a jumper by freshman Todd Fletcher with 11:45 left. And after a three-point play by Utah’s Jay Watkins made it 32-28, the Falcons appeared to cut the lead in half on a dunk by Evan Washington.

Mike McLain, however, was called for an offensive foul on the play, negating the basket. The Utes went on a 10-2 run from there to open up a 12-point lead.

“That’s tough for me to talk about the officiating — I can’t do it. They won’t let me,” Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said, referring to the MWC policy on criticizing officials when asked about the foul on McLain. “I thought it was a key play. … I have my opinion, but I can’t really say.”

Air Force controlled the tempo in the first half, slowing the game to a crawl and frustrating the Utes into nine turnovers. The Falcons, meanwhile, committed just one turnover in the first half. Still, they went to halftime tied with the Utes at 19.

Utah was far more efficient in the second half, making 11-of-19 shots from the floor (57.9 percent) and converting a trio of three-point plays.

“I thought we did a better job of figuring out their zone in the second half,” Utah coach Jim Boylen said. “We made some adjustments. … It usually takes us a half to figure it out. That’s kind of how we play here.”