Falcons Travel to Auburn to Battle Undefeated Tigers
12/3/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 3, 2003
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Site
Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum (10,500), Auburn, Alabama
Radio
KBZC AM 1300 in Colorado Springs
Television
None
Records
Air Force is 2-1. Auburn is 5-0.
Recent Results
Air Force suffered its first loss of the season last Sunday to Belmont, 46-38, in Nashville. The Falcons defeated Navy, 86-46, in Annapolis, Md., on Nov. 28. Auburn beat MWC opponent Colorado State, 84-54, Monday night at Auburn.
Coaches
Air Force is coached by Joe Scott (Princeton, 1987), who is in his fourth season with the Falcons. He has a 31-57 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.
Auburn is coached by Cliff Ellis (Florida State, 1968), who is in his 10th season with the Tigers. He has a 177-111 record at Auburn, and a career Division I record of 525-323 in his 29th season. Ellis, the 1999 National Coach of the Year, has also coached at South Alabama and Clemson. He has coached in 843 consecutive Division I games, the most among active coaches.
Series
Air Force holds a 1-0 lead in the series with Auburn. The only game between the two teams was played on Dec. 29, 1980 at the Blade Grass Classic in Toledo, Ohio. Air Force won the game, 48-46.
Getting Started
This season marks the 48th year of varsity basketball for Air Force. This is Air Force's fifth season in the Mountain West Conference. AFA was a member of the Western Athletic Conference for 19 years before joining the MWC in 1999.
Nine Tourney Teams on Schedule
Nine of Air Force's 20 opponents received a bid to either the NCAA or NIT Tournament last season. 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 2002-03 tournaments.
NCAA -- Auburn, BYU, California, Colorado State, Utah, Wisc.-Milwaukee
NIT -- San Diego State, UNLV, Wyoming
Last Time Out
Belmont 46, Air Force 38
Nov. 30, 2003 at Nashville, Tenn.
Center Adam Mark shot 11-of-12 from the field and posted game-highs of 24 points and seven rebounds Sunday as the Bruins defeated Air Force, 46-38, in Nashville. Air Force lost its first game of the season and is now 2-1.
Belmont (3-1) jumped out to an early 7-0 lead 3:15 into the game with a three-pointer by Brian Collins and two layups from Mark. Soon thereafter, Mark took an early seat on the bench with two fouls.
The Falcons finally got on the scoreboard at the 16:27 mark with a free throw by Joel Gerlach. Antoine Hood gave Air Force its first field goal with a layup at the 13:50 mark. Two layups and a three-pointer by Nick Welch capped a 10-0 run for a 10-7 lead as Air Force held the Bruins scoreless for more than nine minutes.
Air Force (2-1) suffered from early foul trouble as well, as Welch, Gerlach and backup center David Peterson were each called for two fouls in the first 12 minutes. Welch and Gerlach led the Falcons with nine points apiece. Hood chipped in with eight.
The Falcons took a 15-12 lead into the locker room at halftime as made buckets were at a premium in the first 20 minutes. Air Force made 6-of-19 while Belmont was 4-17 from the field. The Bruins made just one of its last 12 field goal attempts in the half.
"We played great defense today," said Air Force head coach Joe Scott. "We just missed a lot of shots."
The second half was the Adam Mark show as Belmont looked to get the ball to him in the post as often as possible. He scored the Bruins' first eight points of the half to give Belmont a 21-20 lead. Mark had a stretch of seven consecutive points later in the half as the Bruins extended their lead to 36-28. He had 17 of his 24 points in the second half.
Freshman Dan Nwaelele broke Mark's streak and five scoreless minutes for the Falcons with a three-pointer at the 5:27 mark, cutting the lead to 36-31. Two free throws by Collins bumped the lead to 38-31 with 3:56 left and the Bruins never led by less than six the rest of the way.
Belmont, which shot 64.7 percent (11-for-17) in the second half, finished the game shooting 44 percent, while Air Force shot just 35 percent (14-for-40) for the game.
Notes from the Belmont Game
Individual
-- Senior A.J. Kuhle scored his first points of the season (4)
-- Junior Tim Keller tied his career-high with four assists in a team season-high 38 minutes
-- Keller also blocked a career-best two shots
-- Sophomore Antoine Hood tied his career-high of two assists for the third consecutive game
Team
-- AFA's 4 FTA are the fewest since attempting 2 at Utah State on 12/30/00; the team's 2 FTM are the fewest since making 2 at Texas-Pan American on 1/10/02
-- Air Force was outrebounded for the first time this season
-- Air Force starts the season 2-1 for the third consecutive year
-- The Falcons have led at halftime in each of their three games this season
Air Force Against the SEC
Air Force holds a 3-5 all-time record against teams in the Southeastern Conference. The Falcons have played six of the 12 teams in the conference. Here is a look at Air Force vs. the SEC:
Auburn, 1-0
Arkansas, 1-1
Florida, 1-0
Kentucky, 0-1
South Carolina, 0-1
Vanderbilt, 0-2
Total, 3-5
Air Force has not played Arkansas, Georgia, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State and Tennessee. AFA's last game against an SEC team was a 95-50 loss to Vanderbilt at the Music City Classic in Nashville, Tenn., on Dec. 28, 1993.
Keller Preseason All-MWC
Tim Keller was selected to the preseason All-Mountain West Conference team at the league's media day in Denver, Colo. The Austin, Texas product earned third-team All-MWC honors last season after averaging 14.8 points per game. He led the MWC in three-point percentage (41.3 percent) and was second in the league in free throw percentage (conference games only) at 87.3 percent. Keller became the second Air Force player to earn an All-MWC selection, as Jarvis Croff was a second-team pick in 2000.
2003-04 Preseason All-MWC
Tim Keller, Jr., G, Air Force
Rafael Araujo, Sr., C, BYU
Mark Bigelow, Sr., F, BYU
Matt Nelson, Jr., C, Colorado State
Tim Frost, Sr., F, Utah
Nick Jacobson, Sr., G, Utah
Three-Point Streak
Air Force has now made a 3-point shot in 328 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.
Fabulous Freshmen
Joe Scott's freshmen have been very impressive so far this season. Dan Nwaelele poured in a team-high 18 points in Air Force's 86-46 blowout of Navy, while Jacob Burtschi is tied for fourth on the team in rebounding with seven. Two other freshmen, Jared Dillinger and Matt McCraw, are averaging more than eight minutes per game and McCraw is scoring at a 5.3 points per game clip.
First Half Knockout Punch
Air Force has outscored its opponents 96-50 in the first half this season. The Falcons have led at halftime in each game, including margins of 18 (36-18) against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and 25 (45-20) against Navy. The Falcons have not been nearly as dominant in the second half, but are still outscoring their opponents, 91-82.
Keller Outstanding at the Line
Tim Keller is No. 3 on Air Force's career free throw percentage list. He made 83.5% (81-97) of his free throws last season, the seventh-best mark for one season in school history, and has made 83.6 percent (117-140) in 59 games as a Falcon. He has currently made 20 consecutive free throws. Following is the list of the top free throw shooters in Air Force history:
# Name, Years, Pct.
1. Lamoni Yazzie, 1999-2002, 87.0 (161-185)
2. Dan Kraft, 1972-75, 84.1 (116-138)
3. Tim Keller, 2001-present, 83.6 (117-140)
4. Dale French, 1987-90, 91-92, 81.7 (236-289)
5. Charles Smith, 1988-92, 80.9 (131-162)
6. John Judd, 1961-64, 80.2 (239-298)
7. Maurice McDonald, 1982-86, 80.1 (177-221)
8. Chris Lowry, 1987-91, 79.4 (235-296)
Tops in NCAA Stats
The Falcons finished the 2002-03 season ranked No. 1 in the country in scoring defense, allowing just 57.0 points per game. The Falcons are well on their way to that title again this season, as Air Force is allowing just 44 points per game after three games. AFA finished last season ranked in the top 20 nationally in the following categories:
Category, #, Rank
Scoring Defense, 57.0, 1st
Turnovers per game, 11.4, 8th
Field-goal percentage, 48.1, 18th
Up Next
The Falcons play their fourth consecutive road game on Tuesday, Dec. 9 at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. (CT).
Welch Is Just Fine
Sophomore center Nick Welch, who sat out the season opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff while still recovering from knee surgery in September, flourished in the games against Navy and Belmont. Starting the first game of his career at Navy, Welch scored a career-high 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field. He drained both of his three-point attempts and pulled down three rebounds. Welch followed that performance with nine points and three boards against Belmont on Sunday.
Record Setting Victory Over Navy
Air Force's 86-46 victory over Navy in Annapolis, Md., is the largest margin in a road game against a Division I team in the 48-year history of Air Force basketball. In fact, it doubled the previous record, which was a 20-point win at Fresno State (71-51) on Jan. 23, 1993. Air Force's largest margin of victory in any road game is 44 in a 91-47 rout of Division II Western State College in Gunnison, Colo., on Feb. 23, 1976.
