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GAME NOTES: A couple of Mountain West Conference teams dealing with disappointing seasons clash for the second time in 2009-10, as the Air Force Falcons welcome the Utah Runnin' Utes to Clune Arena tonight.

The Falcons have been dismal this season, winning just one of their 12 conference games thus far. Granted, it is a step in the right direction after failing to win a single MWC outing a year ago, but still it doesn't quite meet expectations. On Saturday, the academy almost scored the upset of the year as it actually led nationally-ranked New Mexico, before suffering a 59-56 loss in The Pit. The defeat was the fifth in a row and the 11th in the last 12 outings for the Falcons.

As for the Utes, they too have seen better days and are currently sixth in the conference standings at a mere 5-7. In the first of back-to-back road tests, Utah was taken down by San Diego State on Saturday by a final of 68-61, the second loss in the last three games for the squad.

Utah, which leads the overall series by a commanding 48-12 count at the moment, has won five straight against the Falcons, including a 71-54 victory in Salt Lake City last month.

By hitting just nine field goals in the first 20 minutes on Saturday night, the Utes took themselves out of the running against San Diego State on the road. Carlon Brown led the way for the visitors with his 13 points and five rebounds, but he shot only 4-of-12 from the floor, while Marshall Henderson and Jay Watkins accounted for 12 and 11 points, respectively. Henderson, who converted 4-of-8 shots behind the three-point line, has the most three-point baskets on the team right now with 61, but his ambitions from beyond the arc have led to him shooting only 38.1 percent from the floor overall as he generates 12.4 ppg. Brown (13.7 ppg) plays more than 30 minutes per night these days, even though he continues to come off the bench for a program that is outscoring opponents by only fractions of a point on the average.

A layup by Grant Parker with 27.8 seconds remaining in the second half put the Falcons ahead by a score of 56-55, and still the academy found a way to fumble away a golden opportunity to show up the best team in the conference. Parker finished with 17 points, all but two of which came in the second half, as he shot 7-of-10 from the floor. Michael Lyons tacked on 11 points, but his 1-of-6 effort behind the three-point line didn't help matters for a team that made good on 51.2 percent from the floor and still found a way to lose. Parker, who missed some games earlier in the season due to injury, is back and on the attack for the Falcons with his 13.8 ppg and 5.0 rpg, both of which pace the squad. However, for someone who handles the ball as much as he does, shouldn't he not have more than 19 assists through his 15 appearances? Evan Washington, the only player to have started all 25 games, checks in with 11.1 ppg and a team-best 77 assists, yet this is a program that entered the week ranked 328th in the nation in scoring with a mere 58.6 ppg.

Even though the end result was not what the Falcons were hoping for on Saturday, they still showed signs of life. Unfortunately, it just won't carry over into tonight's meeting.