Utah 67, Air Force 59

2/9/2008 7:40 PM

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) -Johnnie Bryant scored 17 points to lead Utah to a 67-59 come-from-behind win over Air Force on Saturday.

With the win, Utah (14-8, 5-4 Mountain West) completed a season sweep of Air Force (4-5, 12-10), having defeated the Falcons 58-36 in Salt Lake City on Jan. 5.

Air Force had a 30-20 halftime lead behind he shooting of Andrew Henke, but the Utes began chipping away early in the second half. Utah tied Air Force 37-37, with Bryant nailing a 3-pointer at the 13:10 mark. Luka Drca hit a 3-pointer at 11:45 to give Utah a 40-37 lead, and Bryant scored from the beyond the arc to stretch the margin to 43-38.

Though Air Force tied the game at 48-48 behind a 3-pointer from Tim Anderson, Utah never relinquished the lead.

Bryant converted five 3-point shots en route to his game-high performance.

Luke Nevill, who entered the game as the Utes' leading scorer and rebounder, was dominant under the basket early but got into foul trouble near the end of the first half. He picked up his third foul with 1:20 to go, being assessed a technical for protesting a call under the Utah basket. Nevill finished with 13 points and two rebounds. He didn't pick up a fourth foul until late in the game.

Drca also was in double figures for the Utes with 12 points.

Anderson led Air Force in scoring with 16 points. Henke, who was scoreless in the second half, Evan Washington and Anwar Johnson all had 11 for the Falcons.

Utah entered the match leading the Mountain West Conference with 49 percent field goal shooting. The Utes were No. 2 in the league with 40.4 percent 3-point shooting and 73.8 percent free-throw shooting.

Against Air Force, the Utes shot 45.8 percent from the field, 50 percent from 3-point range and 72.2 percent from the line.