Air Force Travels to San Diego State
2/19/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 19, 2003
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Date: Saturday, Feb. 22, 8:05 p.m. MST
Site: Cox Arena (12,414), San Diego, CA
Television: Local in San Diego, Chan. 4.
Radio: KVOR AM 740 in Colorado Springs
Records: Air Force is 11-11 overall and 2-7 in the MWC. San Diego State is 12-10 overall and 3-6 in the MWC.
Coaches: Air Force is coached by Joe Scott (Princeton, 1987), who is in his third season with the Falcons. He has a 28-51 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. He has led the Aztecs to a 52-59 record. Fisher has a 236-141 career record in his 13th season.
Series: San Diego State leads the overall series, 34-13. 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. The Aztecs defeated Air Force, 63-48, earlier this season at the Academy in the MWC opener for both schools.
Scouting San Diego State: San Diego State is 12-10 overall and 3-6 in the Mountain West Conference. The Aztecs are 8-6 at home this season, including 2-3 in MWC games. San Diego State has lost three straight games and six of its last seven. The team's last win came Feb. 3 at home vs. Wyoming, 80-70. Tony Bland and Mike Mackell lead the team in scoring with averages of 15.6 points per game each. Deandre Moore is third on the team in scoring with an 8.4 average. Aerick Sanders is the team's leading rebounder with an 8.4 norm. He also averages 6.7 points per game. The team averages 70.9 points per game and 36.2 rebounds per game. The Aztecs have a 5.8 rebounding margin and 2.7 scoring margin. SDSU allows just 28.7 rebounds per game which leads the conference. The Aztecs also averaged 13.27 offensive rebounds per game to lead the MWC.
Tops in NCAA Stats: The Falcons are currently ranked No. 1 in the country in scoring defense, allowing just 56.4 points per game. Air Force is also fifth in the nation in turnovers per game, averaging 11.1.
60 Points is the Key: The 60-point mark seems to be important for the Falcons this season. Air Force is 8-0 when it reaches the 60-point plateau, and 3-11 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 home wins over Navy (56-43) and Savannah State (56-33). Defensively, the Falcons are 8-3 when allowing less than 60 points to an opponent, and 3-8 when their opponent scores more than 60. CSU (51-49), Wyoming (46-44) and Utah (45-35) are the only teams to beat AFA when scoring less than 60 points.
Three-Point Streak: Air Force has now made a 3-point shot in 319 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.
What's next: The Falcons continue their road trip by traveling to Las Vegas, NV, to take on UNLV on Monday, Feb. 24. Game time is 8:35 p.m. MST.
Highest Computer Rankings Ever: AFA's RPI ranking of 135 on Sunday, Feb. 2 is the highest ever for a Falcon team. The team's highest mark in the Sagarin Ratings this season was 70th on Dec. 16.
Three's Company: Air Force is 16th in the nation in three-pointers made per game after spending most of the season in the top two. AFA is sinking 8.4 long range shots each contest, still No. 1 in the MWC. AFA's 66.7 percent (16-24) against Ga. Southern on Jan. 1 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 38.6 percent (185-479) of its shots from beyond the line. Individually, Tim Keller is second in the MWC for three-point percentage at 46.2 percent (66-of-143) and three-pointers made per game at 3.0.
Still Searching for a Road Win: After its 73-59 loss at New Mexico Feb. 8, Air Force now has a 25-game road losing streak against Mountain West Conference opponents. The Falcons won their first-ever MWC road game, 81-77 in three overtimes, at San Diego State on Jan. 20, 2000, and have not won a conference game away from home since. AFA is 0-5 on the road this season, previously losing at Colorado State (51-49), Wyoming (46-44), Utah (45-35) and BYU (65-33).
Scoring Drought: Air Force scored just 68 points in its games at Utah and BYU, the lowest total for consecutive games in school history, surpassing the mark of 75 during the 1981-82 season, at UTEP (L, 35-66) and home vs. Wyoming (L, 40-54). Also, the 33 (at Utah) and 35 (at BYU) points are No. 3 and 4, respectively, on AFA's list for fewest points scored in one game.
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. He has 888 points and 670 rebounds in 102 career games. Bellairs moved into the No. 4 spot on the school's all-time rebounding list this season and is 26th 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 (781).
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 fourth-most in one game for Division I this season. The Falcons are also tied for No. 9 (16 vs. Georgia Southern) and No. 19 (15 vs. Stetson) on the list for most three-pointers made in one game this season. Air Force is the only team in the country that appears three times in the top 30 for this category.
The Last Time: Air Force nearly got everything it had wanted with ESPN Big Monday coming to Clune Arena for the first time ever, but Wyoming spoiled the near-perfect night with a 64-57 win. Cowboy guard Jay Straight scored a career-high 27 points and Donta Richardson added 17 as Wyoming won for the eighth consecutive time over Air Force. The Falcons had no answer for Straight, who keyed Wyoming with 12 consecutive points and 15 of 17 during a stretch late in the game. Wyoming used a 12-0 run early in the first half to take control of the game and quiet the near-capacity crowd of 5,648, the largest this season and eighth largest in Air Force history. The Cowboys led by as many as 11 in the first half before taking a 25-19 halftime advantage. The Cowboys stretched the lead to nine points, 41-32, midway through the second half before Air Force rallied with a 10-0 to take a 42-41 lead with 7:39 remaining. Sophomore Tim Keller keyed the run with six points. The teams went back and forth and the Falcons took their last lead of the game when Tom Bellairs hit a three-pointer with 3:36 remaining to put AFA in front, 47-45. Straight responded with consecutive three-pointers to push the lead to four points, 51-47, with 2:08 remaining. Wyoming then hit 11-12 free throws in the final two minutes to seal the victory. Keller led the Falcons with 24 points and four assists. Bellairs added eight points and a team-high five rebounds. Air Force finished the game hitting 52.6 percent from the field and had just seven turnovers. Wyoming hit 55.9 percent from the field, including a nine of 14 clip (64.3 percent) from three-point land.
Shooting Records Go Down: Air Force set a pair of new school shooting records against Colorado State Feb. 15. The Falcons made 13-of-15 shots in the first half, the best percentage (86.7) for one half in school history, bettering the 82.4 percent (14-17) against Montana State on Nov. 30, 2001. Air Force finished the game shooting 71.9 percent (23-32) from the field, the best percentage ever for a conference game. The previous record was 63 percent (29-46) vs. Hawaii (WAC) on Jan. 26, 1985.
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 320 career assists, and No. 4 on the school's list for career steals. He has 137 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.
Gerlach's First Double-Double: Junior Joel Gerlach posted his first career double-double with 18 points and a career-high 10 rebounds against UNLV. It marked the first double-double for any Falcon this season. Senior Tom Bellairs has 12 career double-doubles, which ties Brian Greene of Colorado State for the third-most by any active MWC player.
Keller Shooting: Tim Keller is among the best shooters in the country, as evidenced by the latest NCAA statistics (Feb. 11). Keller was 14th in the nation in three-point percentage (45.5 percent), and has since improved it to 46.4 percent. He is currently second in the MWC in three-point percentage, behind Utah's Marc Jackson, and three-pointers made (3.05), behind New Mexico's Ruben Douglas. Keller is eighth on the school's career list for three-pointers made with 98.
Home Sweet Home...: Air Force is 8-2 at home which is the best home record since the 1987-88 campaign, when the Falcons began 9-1. Also, the team's six-game home winning streak to start the season marked the first time in school history AFA won its first six Division I home games. The Falcons won those six home games by an average of 22.2 points. 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.
...Road Sweet Road?: With its 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.
