Air Force Moves Up To 19th in Coaches Poll
12/19/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 19, 2006
The Air Force men's basketball team moved up one spot to No. 19 in the latest USA Today/ESPN coaches poll released on Monday. The Falcons, 11-1 following their 70-47 victory over Norfolk State last Wednesday, have won seven consecutive games and are tied for the national lead with 11 victories.
Air Force, which held steady at No. 24 in the Associated Press poll, is the top shooting team in the country for games played through Dec. 17. Air Force's shooting percentage of 54 percent (305-for-565) is No. 1 among all 325 Division I teams around the nation. Florida and Georgia are tied for second at 53.9 percent.
In addition, the Falcons are ranked in the top ten nationally in five other categories, including three-point percentage (4th, 45%), turnovers (4th, 10.6/game), scoring margin (7th, 22.2 ppg), won-lost percentage (7th, 91.7%) and scoring defense (8th, 53.9 ppg).
Individually, senior Dan Nwaelele is sixth in the country in three-point percentage, shooting 57.4 percent from beyond the arc. He is second in the Mountain West Conference behind Shaun Green of Utah. Junior Tim Anderson (91.1%) and senior Matt McCraw (90.3%) are ranked 28th and 31st, respectively, in the nation for free-throw percentage.
The Falcons travel to Greeley, Colo., to face Northern Colorado this Saturday, Dec. 23 at 1 p.m.
