The Utes finally beat a team that they were expected to beat. Surprised? You shouldn't be. The Runnin' Utes seem to have figured things out midway through the season; well sort of. With the win the Utes move to (10-9, 3-2) on the season having won five of their last seven. That isn't bad, considering just one month ago the Utes dropped three straight games to schools like Pepperdine and Illinois State.
Utah's streaky freshman was on fire in this game. Marshall Henderson led the Utes with 22 points on 6-11 shooting. He also hit 4-8 three pointers and did all this in just 17 minutes of playing time. His performance tied a career high for scoring. His four three-pointers put his total to 43 on the season, tying a Utah freshman record.
This was just another loss for Air Force, whose losing streak now reaches five games. Expect that streak to grow since they now have to play the Rebels at their place. After a (5-2) start to the season, the Falcons now are (8-10, 0-5) on the season.
The loss of Grant Parker to injury could be a cause of their struggles. He was averaging 17.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game before injuring his pelvis. He returned in his game and scored 4 points off the bench but Air Force needs him back at full strength quick.
For the Falcons, Michael Lyons had a good night scoring 13 points on 4-5 shooting. He also added three rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block. Evan Washington also added 10 points for the Falcons. The block party continued for Utah's David Foster as he adds six blocks, raising his average to 4.3 per game this season.
The Huntsman Center finally broke 10,000 fans with the announced attendance being 10,011. The Utes have struggled getting fans to games, and surprisingly had higher attendance against Air Force then they did against Michigan and Oklahoma.