Air Force Travels to Louisville For Season Opener
11/18/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 18, 2002
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Date: Saturday, Nov. 23, 7:30 p.m. EST
Site: Freedom Hall (18,865), Louisville, KY
Television: None locally; WDRB-TV in Louisville
Radio: KVOR AM 740 in Colorado Springs
Notes: Air Force opens its 2002-03 season against the Cardinals. The Falcons defeated Athletes in Action, 66-56, in their only exhibition game, Nov. 3.
Records: This is the first game of the season for both teams.
Coaches: Air Force is coached by Joe Scott (Princeton, 1987), who is in his third season with the Falcons. He led AFA to a 9-19 overall record last season, and has a 17-40 record in his two years at Air Force. Scott came to AFA from his alma mater, Princeton, where he was an assistant coach from 1993-2000.
Louisville is coached by Rick Pitino (Massachusetts, 1974), who is in his second season at the school. Pitino guided the Cardinals to a 19-13 record and a trip to the NIT last season. He has a 371-137 career record in 16 seasons with Boston U., Providence, Kentucky and Louisville.
Series: This is the first meeting between the two teams.
Getting Started
This season marks the 47th year of varsity basketball for Air Force. This is Air Force's fourth season in the Mountain West Conference. AFA was a member of the Western Athletic Conference for 19 years before joining the MWC in 1999.
Scouting Louisville
Louisville is coming off a 19-13 season in 2001-02. The Cardinals return nine letterwinners from last year's team that finished fifth in the American Division of Conference USA and advanced to the NIT. Louisville defeated Princeton, 66-65, in the first round before falling to Temple, 65-62. Senior Reece Gaines led the team in scoring last year, averaging 21 points per contest. Other returning starters include Ellis Myles, a 6-8 junior forward who averaged 8.9 points and a team-high 9.3 rebounds per game last season, and 6-7 junior forward Luke Whitehead, who scored 10.6 points per contest in 2001-02 and pulled down 6.4 boards per game.
Eight Tourney Teams on Schedule
Eight of Air Force's 20 opponents this season received a bid to either the NCAA or NIT Tournament last year. Three Mountain West Conference teams made the NCAA field of 65, while three others played in the NIT. Here is a breakdown of this year's opponents in the 2001-02 tournaments.
NCAA -- Wyoming, San Diego State, UNLV
NIT -- Louisville, Utah, Tennessee Tech, New Mexico, BYU
Exhibition Game Recap
Air Force 66, Athletes in Action 56
Nov. 3, 2002 at Clune Arena
Joel Gerlach led three Air Force players in double figures with a game-high 21 points and added eight rebounds as the Falcons defeated Athletes in Action, 66-56, in an exhibition basketball game Sunday at Clune Arena. Air Force, which trailed most of the first half, used a 13-1 run early in the second half to take a 43-34 lead after a three-pointer and a free throw from Gerlach. He scored seven points during the run, while Tom Bellairs and Vernard Jenkins each hit a three-point shot. Bellairs finished the game with 15 points and five rebounds, while Tim Keller added 10 points and five boards. The Falcons gained their biggest lead at 51-39 with 8:30 remaining on a three-pointer by David Peterson, and never led by less than seven points the rest of the way. Athletes in Action was held to just 5-of-21 shooting in the second half, including 2-for-12 from behind the three-point line. "I liked our defense in the second half," said Air Force head coach Joe Scott. "We held them to eight points in the first 12 minutes of the half. I think we are going to be a good defensive team this season." The Falcons struggled offensively in the first half, falling behind 17-9 in the first nine minutes. A three-pointer by Gerlach and a lay-up from Bellairs cut the AIA lead to 17-14, then another three-pointer from Gerlach capped a 7-0 run and gave Air Force a 26-23 lead with less than three minutes remaining. The game was back and forth the rest of the half, with Athletes in Action taking a 31-30 lead into halftime. AIA's Casey Shaw, who led the team with 13 points and 12 rebounds, made a short jumper in the first 30 seconds of the second stanza to give AIA a 33-30 advantage, then back-to-back three-pointers from Jenkins and Gerlach started the 13-1 run that gave Air Force the lead for good.
Season Openers
Air Force is 17-29 all-time in season openers. The Falcons are 13-8 at home and 4-21 on the road. Other than last year's victory over Yale and the win in 2000-01 over Houston, AFA's only season opening road wins came in 1976 at Merchant Marine (68-56) and in 1983 at U.S. International (72-71).
Second-Best RPI in Nine Years
The Falcons ended the 2001-02 season with an RPI of 198, according to collegeRPI.com. It is the best by an Air Force team since finishing the 1998-99 campaign with a 179 mark, and the second-best in the nine years that college RPI has existed.
Bellairs Reaches Milestone
Tom Bellairs became the 12th player in school history with 500 points and 500 rebounds in a career last season. He has 752 career points and 576 rebounds. Bellairs is tied for 33rd on the school's career scoring list and is seventh in career rebounds. Bellairs posted the 11th and 12th double-doubles of his career during the 2001-02 campaign. He leads all returning Falcons in career points and rebounds.
Big Monday Matchup
For the first time since Feb. 1, 1992, Air Force will host a nationally televised game when ESPN shows the AFA-Wyoming game on Monday, Feb. 17 as part of its "Big Monday" tripleheader. Tip-off is scheduled for 10:00 p.m. The Falcons have three other games on television this season, two on SportsWest (March 1 vs. BYU and March 8 vs. New Mexico) and one on ESPN-Plus (Feb. 15 vs. Colorado State).
Three Falcons earned honorable mention All-MWC honors
Lamoni Yazzie, Tom Bellairs and Joel Gerlach were honorable mention All-MWC selections in 2001-02.
First-Team All-Mountain West
Marcus Bailey, Wyoming
Ruben Douglas, New Mexico
Randy Holcomb, San Diego State
Britton Johnsen, Utah
Dalron Johnson, UNLV
Second-Team All-Mountain West
Marcus Banks, UNLV
Al Faux, San Diego State
Brian Greene, Colorado State
Travis Hansen, BYU
Uche Nsonwu-Amadi, Wyoming
Third-Team All-Mountain West
Eric Chatfield, New Mexico
Josh Davis, Wyoming
Nick Jacobson, Utah
Jeff Johnsen, Utah
Donta Richardson, Wyoming
Honorable Mention: Air Force - Lamoni Yazzie, Tom Bellairs, Joel Gerlach; BYU - Mark Bigelow, Matt Montague, Eric Nielsen; Colorado State - Andy Birley; New Mexico - Patrick Dennehy; San Diego State - Tony Bland; UNLV - Lou Kelly; Utah - Travis Spivey
Player of the Year - Britton Johnsen, Utah
Freshmen of the Year - Jason Straight, Wyoming / Jared Jensen, BYU
Defensive Player of the Year - Marcus Banks, UNLV
Coach of the Year - Steve McClain, Wyoming
Jenkins Climbing Career Lists
Senior guard Vernard Jenkins moved into the No. 6 spot on the school's all-time assist list last season. Entering the 2002-03 campaign, Jenkins has 268 career assists. Jenkins is also No. 5 on the school's list for career steals. He posted a career-high six thefts against Wyoming last season and has 120 in his career.
Field Goal Pct. Among The Best
Air Force's field goal percentage of 46.3 percent was the best in school history since the 1988-89 team shot 47.7 percent. It is the eighth-best percentage in school history for one season.
Close Calls
Air Force was 6-12 in games decided by eight points or less last season. Entering conference play, the Falcons were 5-1 in that category, but 11 of their last 12 losses were by eight points or less. In fact, five of those losses were by three points or less. The 47-44 victory over New Mexico on Feb. 4 was the only win decided by eight points or less after a 57-56 win over Northern Arizona on Jan. 2. Nine of the team's 11 MWC losses were by eight points or less. Four of the games were by three points or less and five others were by eight points or less, including OT losses to Wyoming (4) and Utah. The Falcons' two closest defeats of the season were in the final two games, a pair of two-point decisions to San Diego State and Wyoming.
Kuhle on a Hot Streak
Junior A.J. Kuhle made a three-point shot in each of Air Force's final 15 games last season, tying the longest streak for any Falcon during the 2001-02 campaign. Lamoni Yazzie made a three-pointer in each of the first 15 games last season.
For the First Time ...
-- With its victories over Liberty (12/22) and Northern Arizona (1/2), Air Force won consecutive road games for the first time since Jan. 24 & 26, 1989, against BYU and Utah, respectively.
-- The victory over Northern Arizona (1/2) was the first on the road against a team with a winning record since AFA beat Navy, 64-63, in Annapolis on Nov. 30, 1997. Navy was 2-1 entering that game.
-- For the first time in school history, Air Force played a quadruple overtime game. The Falcons fell to Wyoming, 83-76, on Jan. 28. The game was tied at 52 at the end of regulation.
-- The Falcons won four games away from Clune Arena for the first time since the 1989-90 campaign. Two of the wins in '89-90 came against San Diego State and Colorado State at the WAC Tournament.
-- Air Force posted six non-conference Division I wins for the first time since starting conference play in 1980. AFA won five Division I games outside of league play in 2000-01, as well as in 1997-98 and '98-99.
-- Air Force won nine Division I games in one season for the first time since the 1989-90 campaign. The Falcons won a school-record 10 games against Division I opponents that season.
Free Throw Shooting
The Falcons shot 71.2 percent (331-465) from the free-throw line last year, the best mark in a single season since the 1991-92 campaign, when Air Force shot 74.8 percent from the charity stripe. Last year's percentage is the sixth-best in school history.
Enjoying the Extra Time?
Air Force played in a school-record five overtime games last season, posting a 1-4 record. In fact, three of the Falcons' overtime games came in a span of six games, including a quadruple-overtime affair against Wyoming, the longest game in the history of the program and the Mountain West Conference. Air Force played in three overtime games in 1981-82, 1984-85 and 1995-96.
