Falcons Travel to UNLV
2/23/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 23, 2003
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Date: Monday, Feb. 24, 8:35 p.m. MST
Site: Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, NV
Television: None
Radio: KVOR AM 740 in Colorado Springs
Records: Air Force is 11-12 overall and 2-8 in the MWC. The Falcons are below the .500 mark for the first time since a season-opening loss to Louisville. UNLV is 16-8 overall and 5-5 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 28-52 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. UNLV is coached by Charlie Spoonhour (The Ozarks, 1961), who is in his second season. Spoonhour has a 37-19 record at the school and a 102-52 career mark in his 18th season as a collegiate head coach.
Series: UNLV holds a 14-2 all-time series lead, including a 14-1 mark in conference games. Air Force snapped a 14-game losing streak to the Rebels earlier this season with a 75-71 win in Clune Arena. AFA's other victory against UNLV was Jan. 10, 1981, a 51-50 win in the first-ever meeting.
Scouting UNLV: UNLV is 16-8 overall this season. The Rebels are in fourth place in the Mountain West Conference with a 5-5 mark. The team is coached by Charlie Spoonhour, who is in his second year as head coach. Spoonhour was named District VIII Coach of the Year in 2002 after leading UNLV to a 21-11 mark in his first season. The team is led by Marcus Banks and Dalron Johnson, who have each been named to the all-District VIII team. Banks leads the team and is second in the conference in scoring with a 19.6 average. He also leads the conference in assists with a 5.5 mark. Johnson is second on the team in scoring with a 15.4 average and leads the team in rebounding with a 6.6 norm. The Rebels split the difficult Utah-BYU road trip last weekend. UNLV lost, 86-80, in overtime at Utah after defeated BYU, 61-54. The Rebels defeated New Mexico, 74-69, last Saturday in Las Vegas. UNLV leads the MWC in several statistical categories. The Rebels lead the league in scoring at 76.6 points per game, steals at 9.1 per game and turnover margin with a 2.8 mark.
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 3-12 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 3-9 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 320 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: Air Force returns home to host the final three regular season games of the season. Air Force opens the three-game series against Brigham Young on Saturday, March 1, at 4:05 p.m. in Clune Arena.
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 8.5 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 46.3 percent (69-of-149) and three-pointers made per game at 3.0.
Still Searching for a Road Win: After its 67-53 loss at at San Diego State on Saturday, Air Force now has a 26-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 0-6 on the road this season.
Shooting Coming Around, but so is Opponents: Air Force's shooting has improved the last three games, as the Falcons have hit 57.8 percent (59-102) from the field. AFA has also improved from long distance, hitting 48.8 percent (21-43) of its three-pointers. The Falcons hit a school record for conference games 71.9 percent from the field, including 58.3 percent from three-point range, against Colorado State. The team then hit 52.6 percent against Wyoming. Both games were in Clune Arena. The team continued the streak on the road at San Diego State, hitting 50.0 percent overall and 52.6 from three-point lang. The team's 50 percent mark is the best in a conference road game this season and second best overall away from home. Unfortunately for the Falcons, their defense recently has allowed opponents to light it up. Air Force opponents have hit 57.8 percent (96-166) from the field over the last four games.
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 103 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.
Last Time Out: Tony Bland scored 28 points to lead San Diego State over Air Force, 67-53, Saturday night in San Diego. Bland scored 17 points in the first half, including 10 in a key 15-3 spurt late in the half to push the Aztecs to a 39-32 halftime lead. The Falcons used a 9-4 run midway through the first stanza to take its biggest lead of the game, 26-22, with 5:39 remaining before the Aztecs put together their run. Bland's three-point play with 3:39 remaining gave SDSU the lead for good in a half that featured six lead changes and seven ties. Air Force was never able to put a run together in the second half and never got closer than seven points, the last time coming at 55-48 with 6:19 left. The Aztecs went on the lead by as many as 17 points. Bland was nearly perfect from the field, hitting 11 of 13 field goals while handing out a team-best four assists. Mackell chipped in with a team-high four rebounds. SDSU hit 61.4 percent from the field which is the best allowed by the Falcons this season. The Aztecs also enjoyed a 20-13 rebounding margin. Air Force was led by Joel Gerlach, who scored 15 points. Tim Keller and Antoine Hood each added 13 points. The Falcons hit 50 percent from the field and a conference game season best 10 three-pointers on 52.6 percent shooting, but committed a season-high 20 turnovers.
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.
Last Time vs. UNLV: Tim Keller had 19 points and Joel Gerlach added 18 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double as Air Force beat UNLV 75-71. A.J. Kuhle also had 18 points and Tom Bellairs had 13 for Air Force. Marcus Banks had 28 points and Dalron Johnson had 16 for UNLV. It was the first time Air Force has beaten UNLV since their inaugural meeting Jan. 10, 1981. Air Force snapped a three-game losing streak while UNLV lost its third straight. Air Force, known for its 3-point shooting, outscored the Runnin' Rebels 30-14 in the paint and out-rebounded them 27-24. "Coach Scott said they were similar to us," Keller said. "They didn't have a big team. Coach told us to get in there and get rebounds." Leading 28-25 at the break, Air Force spread its offense to open up layup opportunities in the second half. A layup by Gerlach with 4:47 left put Air Force up 59-52. Air Force then scored its final 16 points of the game from the free throw line. Air Force shot 53.7 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from 3-point range. Air Force's defense held UNLV to 49 percent shooting from the field and 33.3 percent on 3-pointers. The Falcons entered the game with the nation's top scoring defense, giving up 52.9 points per game.
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 eighth in the nation in three-point percentage (46.2 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 sixth on the school's career list for three-pointers made with 101.
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.
