Falcons Host San Diego State to Open MWC Play
1/9/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 9, 2003
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Date: Saturday, Jan. 11, 4:05 p.m. MST
Site: Clune Arena (6,002), USAFA, Colo.
Television: None
Radio: KVOR AM 740 in Colorado Springs
Records: Air Force is 9-4, San Diego State is 9-4. This is the first MWC game for both teams.
Coaches: Air Force is coached by Joe Scott (Princeton, 1987), who is in his third season with the Falcons. He has a 26-44 record in his tenure at Air Force. Scott came to AFA from his alma mater, Princeton, where he was an assistant coach from 1993-2000.
San Diego State is coached by Steve Fisher (Illinois State, 1967), who is in his fourth season as head coach of the Aztecs. Prior to taking the head coaching job at SDSU, he was the head coach at Michigan for eight seasons. He led the Wolverines to the 1989 NCAA Championship after taking over late in the season. Fisher has a record of 49-53 at San Diego State and led the Aztecs to the Mountain West Conference tournament championship last season.
Series: San Diego State leads the overall series, 33-13. The teams split a pair of games last year. Air Force won 57-43 at Clune Arena, while SDSU triumphed 49-47 in San Diego.
Scouting San Diego State
San Diego State is 9-4 overall after defeating the University of San Diego, 78-72, at home Wednesday night. The Aztecs fell to No. 21 Texas Tech, 75-63, at home Monday night. That snapped a six-game winning streak for the Aztecs, which included road wins at Long Beach State and Houston. Senior Tony Bland led San Diego State with 17 points against San Diego. Senior Mike Mackell added 15 points. Bland also added eight assists. Mackell leads the team in scoring, averaging 16.2 points per game. He is No. 3 in the MWC in scoring. Bland is scoring at a 15.4 clip per game. Aerick Sanders is the MWC's top rebounder, averaging 9.1 per contest, followed by Mackell at 5.1 per game. Senior Deandre Moore is second in the conference in assists, dishing out 4.8 per game. SDSU finished tied for fourth in the Mountain West Conference's regular season last season after going 7-7 in conference play. The Aztecs then won the MWC Championship and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, where they lost to Illinois, 93-64, in the first round.
What's next
The Falcons continue play against Mountain West Conference opponents with a game against Colorado State on Saturday, Jan. 18 in Fort Collins. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
Conference Openers
Air Force is 2-20 overall in conference openers. The Falcons were 2-17 in conference openers in their 20 years in the Western Athletic Conference, with the two victories coming against San Diego State (86-75) in 1986-87 and Colorado State (69-58) in 1992-93. Air Force is 0-3 in conference openers since the Mountain West Conference began play in 1999.
Keller Shooting
Sophomore Tim Keller is among the best shooters in the country, as evidenced by the latest NCAA statistics. Keller is 13th in the nation in three-pointers made, averaging 3.5 per game, and his 49.5 percentage from three-point range is No. 16 in the nation.
Tops in NCAA Stats
The Falcons are currently ranked No. 1 in the country in scoring defense, allowing just 52.8 points per game. Air Force is in the top 10 in the country for the following categories:
Category -- # -- Rank
Scoring Defense -- 52.8 -- 1st
Three-pointers made per game -- 10.2 -- 2nd
Three-point percentage -- 44.3 -- 3rd
Turnovers per game -- 11.8 -- 5th
Field goal percentage -- 51.1 -- T, 8th
Starters Shooting Lights Out
Four of Air Force's five starters are shooting better than 50 percent from the field this season, led by Tom Bellairs, who is shooting 55.3 percent (26-47). The only starter below that mark is Tim Keller, who is at 48.8 percent (63-129). Keller is shooting 49.5 percent (45-91) from three-point range, which is second on the team behind Vernard Jenkins' 54.5 percent (12-22), and third in the MWC.
Three-Point Streak
Air Force has now made a 3-point shot in 310 consecutive games. The last time the Falcons failed to make a three-pointer was Dec. 4, 1991 in a 57-51 victory over Adams State College.
Three's Company
Air Force is currently second in the nation in three-pointers made per game, sinking 10.2 long range shots each contest. Davidson College leads the country, averaging 11.3 three-pointers per game. For the first time in four games, the Falcons shot better than 50 percent from 3-point range against Georgia Southern. In fact, Air Force's 66.7 percent (16-24) was a season-high and the best percentage since shooting 69.2 percent from long range against Montana State on Nov. 30, 2001. AFA is making 44.3 percent (133-300) of its shots from beyond the line. Individually, Air Force has four of the top six 3-point percentage shooters in the Mountain West Conference. Vernard Jenkins leads the conference at 54.5 percent (12-of-22). Tim Keller is No. 3 at 49.5 percent (45-of-91), while A.J. Kuhle is fourth at 47.6 percent (20-of-42). Joel Gerlach is sixth at 43.3%.
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. MST. 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).
Highest Computer Rankings Ever
On Dec. 16, AFA was ranked 70th in the Sagarin Ratings, and 153rd in the RPI rankings. Both are the highest ever acheived by Air Force.
Bellairs Fifth Player to 800 / 600
Tom Bellairs became the fifth player in school history to record 800 points and 600 rebounds in a career after scoring five points against Oakland. He has 824 points and 637 rebounds in 93 career games. Bellairs moved into the No. 4 spot on the school's all-time rebounding list against UTEP and is 29th on the school's scoring chart. Bellairs is No. 3 on the MWC's all-time rebounding list, behind Josh Davis (795), who played at Wyoming, and UNLV senior Dalron Johnson (718).
On Fire in the First Half
Air Force has been outstanding in the first half all season long. The Falcons have trailed only twice at halftime (at Louisville and Oakland) and are outscoring their opponents 417-295 in the first half this year. AFA is shooting 55.1 (144-261) and 51.3 (80-156) percent from the field and three-point range, respectively, in the first half, compared to 47.2 (125-265) and 39.6 (53-134) percent in the second half. The first half numbers for the team's six home games are even more staggering. AFA is shooting 58.9 percent (73-124) from the field and 53.2 percent (42-79) from 3-point range.
Last Time Out
Air Force 56, Savannah State 33
Jan. 6, 2003 at Clune Arena
Air Force's top-ranked defense held Savannah State to 28.3 percent shooting as the Falcons coasted to a 56-33 victory on Monday. Air Force (9-4) entered the game averaging just 54.5 points allowed, lowest in the nation. Savannah State's 33 points was the fourth-lowest Air Force has ever allowed and the lowest since holding Regis to 19 in 1978. Tim Keller had 15 points for Air Force. Antoine Hood and Joel Gerlach added 10 points each. Jamal Daniels scored 10 for Savannah State (0-11). Air Force led by 27-9 with 3:48 left in the first half, but Savannah State closed the gap to 27-17 at the break. Air Force led by as much as 25 in the second half. Air Force hit 54.5 percent of its field goals but had 15 turnovers and shot just 45.2 percent on free throws.
Notes from the Savannah St. Game
Individual
-- Antoine Hood made his first career start and responded with career-highs of 10 points and four steals
-- Tom Bellairs tied his season-high with eight rebounds
-- Marcus Jenkins scored his first career point
-- Nick Welch had five points to tie his career high for the second consecutive game
-- Deane Lake pulled down a career-high two rebounds
Team
-- Set school record with nine non-conference victories
-- First time in school history AFA has won its first six Division I home games
-- For just the third time in school history, Air Force has held four consecutive opponents under 50 points
-- AFA's nine wins matches last year's total (9-19)
-- AFA has led in 79:32 of the 80 minutes in its last two home games
-- The Falcons have led for all but 5:53 of the last three games (120 minutes)
-- The 33 points are the fewest allowed since a 30-19 win over Regis on Dec. 12, 1978
-- The 33 points allowed are the fourth fewest overall in AFA history
-- Ninth time in school history AFA has won its first six home games
(1960-61, 1961-62, 1965-66, 1972-73, 1977-78, 1986-87, 1988-89 and 1992-93)
-- AFA's 9-4 record ties the third-best start after 13 games in the history of the program
(10-3 in 1957-58 and 1961-62), (9-4 in 1972-73 and 1986-87)
-- The 9-4 record is the best start after 13 games vs. Division I opponents
-- AFA had a season-high 10 steals
-- First four-game winning streak since the beginning of the 1998-99 season
-- First four-game winning streak against all Division I teams since the 1988-89 season (1/24 - 2/4, 1989, BYU, Utah, Hawaii, SDSU)
Jenkins Climbing Career Lists
Senior guard Vernard Jenkins has moved into the top five on two of the school's career lists. He is fourth on the school's all-time assist list with 303 career assists, and No. 4 on the school's list for career steals. He has 130 steals in his career. Jenkins is the Mountain West Conference's all-time leader in steals, and is third all-time in assists, behind Matt Montague (439) and Marlon Parmer (384), who played at BYU and New Mexico, respectively.
AFA in Conference Statistics
Several Air Force players are among the top 10 for Mountain West Conference statistical leaders as of Thursday, Jan. 9.
Tim Keller
#1 -- three-pointers made per game, 3.46
#2 -- steals per game, 2.00
#3 -- three-point field goal percentage, 49.5
#8 -- points per game, 15.2
Joel Gerlach
#3 -- blocked shots per game, 1.38
#6 -- three-point field goal percentage, 43.4
#7 -- field goal percentage, 52.9
#9 -- three-pointers made per game, 1.77
Vernard Jenkins
#1 -- three-point field goal percentage, 54.5
#1 -- assist/turnover ratio, 2.12
#9 -- assists per game, 3.00
A.J. Kuhle
#3 -- assist/turnover ratio, 1.87
#4 -- three-point field goal percentage, 47.6
#6 -- field goal percentage, 53.9
#6 -- assists per game, 3.31
60 Points is the Key
The 60-point mark seems to be important for the Falcons this season. Air Force is 6-0 when it reaches the 60-point plateau, and 3-4 when it scores less than 60. The only victories this season with a point total under 60 are the 57-52 win at Arkansas State, and the last two wins over Navy (56-43) and Savannah State (56-33). Defensively, the Falcons are 8-0 when allowing less than 60 points to an opponent, and 1-4 when thier opponent scores more than 60. The 85-76 victory over Belmont is AFA's lone win when giving up more than 60 points. Air Force has held each of its last four opponents to less than 50 points.
Home Sweet Home...
For the first time in 30 years, Air Force won each of its first two home games by more than 20 points. The 29-point victory over Stetson on Nov. 26 was followed up with a 21-point win over UT-Pan American on Dec. 5. The last time that happened was at the start of the 1972-73 campaign, when the Falcons beat Tulane, 81-59, and Colorado State, 78-57. Air Force won its first six home games by an average of 22.2 points.
...Road Sweet Road?
With the victory at UTEP on Dec. 28, AIr Force has won three true road games in the same season for the first time since the 1997-98 campaign. Prior to this season, the Falcons had not won three Division I road games in a season since 1988-89, when AFA won consecutive games at Wyoming, Utah and Brigham Young.
Most Non-Conference Victories
With its victory over Savannah State, the Falcons set a new school record for the most non-conference wins in one season with nine. The 1988-89 Air Force team won eight games prior to starting conference play, with four of those being non-Division I teams, while the 1982-83 and 1998-99 squads each won seven non-conference games. In each of those seasons, three of the wins were against non-Division I schools.
New Long Range Records
Air Force set a new school and Mountain West Conference record with 18 three-pointers against UT-Pan American on Dec. 5. The previous school record was 16 made against Doane College on Nov. 22, 1997. The previous MWC record of 17 was shared by Utah and Colorado State. The 18 three-pointers ties for the third-most in one game for Division I this season. The Falcons are also tied for No. 7 (16 vs. Georgia Southern) and No. 11 (15 vs. Stetson) on the list for most three-pointers made in one game this season.
Holding On To The Ball
The Falcons committed a school-record low five turnovers against Belmont and Navy. Air Force had just 22 turnovers during its three-game win streak over UT-Pan American (7), Georgia Southern (10) and Belmont. It is the fewest by an Air Force team in a three-game stretch in the history of the program.
