Air Force Academy
Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Air Force Crushes Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 71-49
1/2/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 2, 2004
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - Joel Gerlach scored a season-high 20 points and A.J. Kuhle added 13 and a career-best seven assists as Air Force built a 17-point halftime lead en route to a 71-49 victory over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Friday night at Clune Arena.
Air Force (7-2), coming off a win over Cal in the championship game of the Golden Bear Classic, won its fifth consecutive game and second straight over a team that played in the 2003 NCAA Tournament. The nation's leading defense held UWM (6-5) to just 17 first-half points, the eighth time this season an opponent has scored 20 points or less in the first half.
The Falcons controlled the first 20 minutes of play with a stingy defense and patient offense, shooting 60 percent from the field while forcing 14 Panther turnovers. Air Force wasted little time in jumping out in front, cruising to a 12-2 advantage with Gerlach scoring six of AFA's points.
UWM pulled within 12-5 on a three-pointer by Dylan Page, but Air Force scored 11 of the next 13 points to build a 23-7 lead with 6:17 remaining and eventually led 27-9. Page led UWM with 17 points and eight rebounds.
The Panthers tried to fight back, scoring the next four points to pull within 27-13, but a three-pointer by Antoine Hood with eight seconds remaining in the first half gave the Falcons a 34-17 lead at the break.
Hood, who finished with 11 points, scored five of the Falcons' first 12 points of the second half and his second 3-pointer of the game gave Air Force a 46-24 lead with 14:24 remaining. UWM cut the lead to 15 three times in the second half but could get no closer as Air Force made 12-of-16 free throws in the stanza.
Nick Welch added nine points and a career-high seven rebounds and Jacob Burtschi had eight points for Air Force, which forced 25 UWM turnovers and allowed just four assists by the Panthers. The Falcons posted season-highs of 18 assists and 12 steals.
