Falcons Conclude Three-Game Road Swing at New Mexico
2/5/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 5, 2003
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Site: The Pit/Bob King Court (18,018), Alb., NM
Television: None
Radio: KVOR AM 740 in Colorado Springs
Records: Air Force is 10-9 overall and 1-5 in the MWC. New Mexico is 7-12 overall and 1-5 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 27-49 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.
New Mexico is coached by Ritchie McKay (Seattle Pacific, 1987), who is in his first season as head coach of the Lobos. Prior to taking the UNM coaching job, he was the head coach at Oregon State, Colorado State and Portland State for two seasons each. McKay has a career record of 90-101 in his seventh season.
Series: New Mexico leads the overall series, 38-11. The two teams split a pair of games last season. UNM defeated Air Force, 50-47, in Albuquerque on ESPN's "Big Monday" telecast, while Air Force earned a 47-44 victory at Clune Arena.
Scouting New Mexico
New Mexico is 7-12 overall and 1-5 in Mountain West Conference play after dropping a pair of games last weekend on the road. UNM lost to BYU, 80-64 on Saturday, then fell to Utah, 78-68 on Monday. The Lobos only MWC victory this season is a 66-62 win over San Diego State at home on Jan. 25. Ruben Douglas led New Mexico with 39 points against BYU and followed up with 32 against Utah. Jamaal WIlliams was the only other Lobo to score in double figures in either game with 13 against Utah. Douglas leads the MWC and is second in the nation in scoring, averaging 27.2 points per game. He also leads the team in rebounding, pulling down six per game. Williams follows at 12.4 points per game, while Marc Walters is averaging 5.5 boards per contest. Javin Tindall paces the squad with 40 assists. New Mexico finished sixth in the MWC last season, and lost to UNLV in the first round of the conference tournament.
Need a Win on the Road
Air Force enters its game at New Mexico on Saturday with a 24-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 0-4 on the road this season, losing at Colorado State (51-49), Wyoming (46-44), Utah (45-35) and BYU (65-33).
Tops in NCAA Stats
The Falcons are currently ranked No. 1 in the country in scoring defense, allowing just 54.1 points per game. Air Force is also fifth in the nation in turnovers per game, averaging 11.4.
Category -- # -- Rank
Scoring Defense -- 54.1 -- 1st
Turnovers per game -- 11.4 -- 5th
60 Points is the Key
The 60-point mark seems to be important for the Falcons this season. Air Force is 7-0 when it reaches the 60-point plateau, and 3-9 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 2-6 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 316 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 return to Clune Arena next weekend for a game against Colorado State on Saturday, Feb. 15. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. and will be televised by ESPN Regional.
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 has dropped to 15th in the nation in three-pointers made per game after spending most of the season in the top two. AFA is sinking 8.8 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 41.7 percent (160-384) of its shots from beyond the line. Individually, Air Force has two of the top eight 3-point percentage shooters in the MWC. Tim Keller is third at 45.3 percent (58-of-128), while Joel Gerlach is eighth at 42.3 percent (30-of-71).
Big Monday Matchup At Home
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-Regional (Feb. 15 vs. Colorado State).
Scoring Drought
Air Force has scored just 68 points in its last two games, 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 the 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 after scoring five points against Oakland. He has 871 points and 660 rebounds in 99 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 (766).
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. 8 (16 vs. Georgia Southern) and No. 17 (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
BYU 65, Air Force 33
Feb. 3, 2003 at Provo, Utah
Travis Hansen scored 16 points to lead Brigham Young to a 65-33 victory over Air Force Monday night. Air Force has lost 12 straight in Provo and six of the last seven meetings against BYU. BYU (15-5, 4-1) shot 46 percent while Air Force (10-9, 1-5) shot 22 percent. Rafael Araujo scored nine points and had 12 rebounds for BYU, which out-rebounded the Falcons 55-21. Tim Keller and Antoine Hood led Air Force with nine points each. Leading 7-6, BYU went on a 23-4 run in the final 11 minutes of the first half to lead 30-10. The 10 points scored by Air Force was a Marriott Center record and tied the AFA school record for fewest points scored in a half. BYU extended its lead to 31 at 50-19 with 7:48 left on a basket by Araujo basket and a free throw by Marc Roberts.
Notes from the BYU Game
Individual
-- Antoine Hood pulled down a career-high seven rebounds
-- Nick Welch scored a career-high seven points in a career-high 26 minutes
-- A.J. Kuhle was held scoreless for first time this season
-- Caleb Buchanan tied his career-high with two rebounds
Team
-- 10 points in the first half ties the school record for fewest points in one half (10 points in first half vs. Minnesota on Dec. 30, 1977)
-- It sets a new school record for the fewest points in one half in a conference game (11 vs. UTEP twice, 1/7/84 and 2/25/93)
-- 33 points is the fewest in one game since scoring 29 vs. Wyoming on Feb. 20, 1982
-- 32-point defeat equals the fourth-largest in any Air Force conference game
-- Field goal percentage of 21.6% is the worst since shooting 19.0% vs. Wyoming on Feb. 20, 1982
-- Shot a season-high 51 field-goal attempts
-- Tied a season-high with 33 three-point attempts
-- Second consecutive game with no player in double figures
Close Calls
Air Force has had its share of close games since Joe Scott took over as head coach prior to the 2000-01 campaign, especially on the road. Of the Falcons' 18 road losses against conference opponents the last 2+ seasons, 11 of them have been by eight points or less, including six by five points or less. Including the losses at Colorado State and Wyoming two weekends ago, three of the Falcons' last five road conference losses have been by two points. Four of the last six games against MWC teams away from Clune Arena have been decided by two points counting the MWC Tournament game against Wyoming.
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 318 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.
AFA in Conference Statistics
Several Air Force players are among the top 10 for Mountain West Conference statistical leaders as of Tuesday, Feb. 4.
Tim Keller
#2 -- three-pointers made per game, 3.05
#3 -- steals per game, 1.68
#3 -- three-point field goal percentage, 45.3
#9 -- points per game, 14.3
Joel Gerlach
#6 -- blocked shots per game, 1.21
#8 -- three-point field goal percentage, 42.3
#9 -- three-pointers made per game, 1.58
#10 -- free-throw percentage, 71.8
A.J. Kuhle
#9 -- assists per game, 2.79
Tom Bellairs
#1 -- assist/turnover ratio, 1.78
#8 -- assists per game, 3.00
Vernard Jenkins
#10 -- assists per game, 2.78
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.
Home Sweet Home...
Air Force is 7-1 at home against Division I opponents for the first time in program history. 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 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 on Jan. 6, the Falcons set a new program-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.
