Utah Just Keeps Winning

The winning streak goes on and the conference title belongs to Utah.

Pretty soon it will be NCAA tournament time, and the Utes look like a team that could do some damage there too.

Andrew Bogut scored 20 of his 23 points in the second half Saturday to lead No. 14 Utah to its 18th consecutive victory, a 65-56 win over Air Force that clinched the Mountain West Conference championship.

“To have a day where you accomplish the main goal of your season, I’d say it ranks right up there at the top,” first-year Coach Ray Giacoletti said.

In what may have been the most impressive win of the streak, which began Dec. 17, the Utes (23-3, 11-0) ended the Falcons’ 24-game home winning streak.

Utah, which allowed only three baskets over the first 15 minutes of the second half, needs three more victories to become the first team to go undefeated in the six-year-old conference.

Either way, the Utes are well on track for their 26th NCAA tournament appearance.

“Our number-one goal was winning a conference championship,” Giacoletti said. “We said if we do that, we’ll stop and put another goal on the table. We’ll probably have a chance to look at that tomorrow.”

Air Force (15-10, 6-4), ranked 104th in the latest RPI ratings, lost a chance at a quality victory it needed to make the NCAA tournament for the second season in a row.

The Falcons, who came in with a half-game lead over Wyoming for second place, may need to win the conference tournament to earn a berth in the NCAA tournament.

“Right now, the postseason isn’t necessarily important to us,” first-year Coach Chris Mooney said, adding the team needed to concentrate on Monday’s game against BYU and the road trip that follows.

Bogut was one rebound short of increasing his nation-leading total of 17 double-doubles. He scored eight points during a 10-0 run that gave Utah a 36-32 lead and set the tone to open the second half.

The Utes stayed more patient in getting him the ball, and when they did, Bogut typically had his defender sealed and made an easy spin move for a basket.

“It’s very frustrating,” Mooney said. “You’re not going to hold him to six points, we realize that. But when the ball got into him, it was too easy.”