Falcons Look For Revenge at UNLV on Tuesday
2/14/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 14, 2011
Game #24
Air Force Falcons (13-10, 4-6 MWC)
vs.
UNLV Rebels (18-7, 6-5 MWC)
Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2011
7:30 p.m. at Las Vegas, Nev.
SITE
Location Las Vegas, Nev.
Arena Thomas & Mack Center
Capacity 18,500
RADIO
Network Air Force Basketball Network
Station AM 740 KVOR, Colo. Spgs.
Play-by-Play Jim Arthur
Analyst Matt Pauley
TELEVISION
Network The Mtn.
Play-by-Play James Bates
Analyst Joe Cravens
INTERNET
Gametracker GoAirForceFalcons.com
COACHES
Jeff Reynolds (UNC-Greensboro, 1978)
Air Force 49-66, Fourth Season
Overall 130-100, Eighth Season
Lon Kruger (Kansas State, 1975)
UNLV 155-69, Seventh Season
Overall 473-302, 25th Season
ALL-TIME SERIES
Overall UNLV leads 24-8
At Las Vegas UNLV leads 15-1
First Game Jan. 10, 1981
Result Air Force won 51-50
Last Game Jan. 15, 2011
Result UNLV won 64-52
Current Streak UNLV - 6
Falcons Look for Revenge at UNLV on Tuesday
The Air Force Falcons (13-10, 4-6 MWC) travel to Las Vegas, Nev., to face the UNLV Rebels (18-7, 6-5 MWC) on Tuesday, Feb. 15 beginning at 7:30 p.m. (PT). The game will be broadcast locally on AM 740 KVOR and televised nationally on The Mtn. The Falcons are coming off a 90-52 loss to #7 BYU at home last Wednesday, while the Rebels lost to 6th-ranked San Diego State, 63-57, in Las Vegas on Saturday. UNLV defeated Air Force, 64-52, at Clune Arena on Jan. 15.
Air Force Falls to #7 BYU, 90-52
JImmer Fredette, the nation's leading scorer, had 25 points despite suffering a bruised right knee and No. 7 BYU used runs of 16-0 and 14-0 to cruise past Air Force 90-52 Wednesday night.
Air Force swarmed Fredette with pesky double teams the entire game, but it was not enough. Fredette reached the 20-point mark for the 10th straight game in leading the Cougars (23-2, 9-1 Mountain West) to their 12th consecutive victory over the Falcons (13-10, 4-6).
Fredette led four BYU players in double digits, with Jackson Emery adding 17, Brandon Davies 13 and Stephen Rogers 11. BYU's offense was clicking on all cylinders, with the Cougars shooting 57.9 percent from the field and hitting 15 of 30 3-point attempts.
Tom Fow and Michael Lyons led the Falcons with 11 points apiece. Air Force set season lows for points and field-goal percentage (34.5).
First Back-to-Back Road Wins Since 2007
Air Force will attempt to win its third straight road game on Tuesday. The last time that happened was during the 2006-07 season, when the Falcons won at Santa Clara (Dec. 29), Colorado State (Jan. 3) and Wyoming (Jan. 13). Air Force won at TCU on Jan. 29 and at Utah on Feb. 5.
Up Next
The Falcons return home to face the 6th-ranked San Diego State Aztecs on Saturday, Jan. 19. Tip-off is scheduled for 12 p.m. and the game will be televised on The Mtn.
Most Wins Since 2007-08
With 13 overall and four MWC wins this season, Air Force has the most victories in one season since the 2007-08 campaign. The Falcons went 10-21 overall and 0-16 in league play in '08-09 and 10-21 and 1-15 last season. AFA was 16-14 overall and 8-8 in the MWC in '07-08.
All 10 Losses to Winning Teams
The nine teams that have beaten the Falcons this season have a combined record of 163-61 (.728 winning percentage) this season and all nine currently have a winning record.
Falcons Top 25 in Country in Two Stats
The Falcons are ranked No. 20 in the country in three-point percentage and 23rd in field-goal percentage. In addition, Air Force is in the top 50 in the country in three other categories (Feb. 11).
70 Points Seems to be the Key
Air Force is 8-0 this season when it scores 70 points or more and 5-10 when scoring less than 70. The four wins were against UCCS (66-53), Evansville (57-56), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (63-52), TCU (66-65 in ot) and at Utah on Saturday (54-49).
Defensively speaking, the Falcons are 12-4 when allowing less than 70 points and 1-6 when allowing 70 or more. The only win was an 87-72 victory over Tennessee State.
Injuries Were Here Again
After enduring a season full of injuries in 2009-10, the Falcons were hoping for a healthy '10-11 campaign. Unfortunately, it did not start out that way. Freshman Ethan Michael tore his ACL during Basic Cadet Training, then sophomore forward Zach Bohannon tore a ligament in his right hand and underwent surgery on Oct. 28. In addition, freshmen Sean Bowman (knee) and Myles Jerrett (shoulder) underwent surgery recently. Michael and Jerrett are out for the year while Bohannon returned vs. Sam Houston State on Dec. 28. Sophomore Taylor Broekhuis missed the team's two games at the Sun Bowl Invitational with a concussion.
Mountain West / Missouri Valley Challenge
The 2010-11 edition of the MWC/MVC Challenge is the second in a four-year agreement between the Mountain West and Missouri Valley Conferences. Nine Challenge games will be played each year, and each conference will host a total of 18 games in the four-year period. Missouri State will be the Valley team that does not participate in the 2010 Challenge Series. The Mountain West won eight of the nine games this season:
Falcons Still Winless Against Top Ten
With their loss to BYU last Wednesday, the Falcons fell to 0-29 all-time against teams ranked in the top 10. Air Force also fell to 1-70 all-time against ranked teams. The only victory was a 75-72 victory over 21st-ranked UTEP on Feb. 15, 1992 at Clune Arena.
Super Sophs Solid So Far
Sophomores Michael Lyons, Taylor Broekhuis and Todd Fletcher have produced some impressive numbers so far this season. Lyons continues to lead the team in scoring (12.6 ppg) and scored a career-high 26 points on Jan. 5 vs. Utah. He has scored in double figures 14 times this season and reached the 20-point mark three times.
Broekhuis, meanwhile, scored a career-high 19 points on Dec. 5 against Evansville and shot
5-for-10 from three-point range. He had made just two career 3-pointers entering the game. Broekhuis is shooting 53.9 percent from the field and is fourth on the team in scoring at 8.7 ppg. He also played a career-high 41 minutes against CC and blocked a personal-best three shots, the most by a Falcon in one game since Matt Holland swatted four against Wyoming on Feb. 28, 2009. Unfortunately, Broekhuis missed both games at the Sun Bowl Invitational due to injury, but returned to the lineup and scored 15 points against Florida A&M.
Fletcher has been just as solid at point guard, dishing out 2.7 assists per game and sporting a 2.34 assist-to-turnover ratio. He scored a career-high 15 points against CSU Northridge, is second on the team with 61 assists and has committed just 11 turnovers in his last 16 games.
Fitzgerald Getting Marriott Points
Sophomore Mike Fitzgerald tied his career-high with 13 points on Jan. 8 against BYU at the Marriott Center in Provo. He set his career-high last season with 13 points at BYU. In fact, two of his six career double-figure games have come at the Marriott Center. Fitzgerald, who also scored 13 points against New Mexico, has made 12 of his last 15 three-point attempts.
Fow Leads the MWC in 3-Point Pct.
Senior Tom Fow is ranked No. 1 in the Mountain West Conference in 3-point field-goal percentage at 49.1 percent. He is 24-for-41 (58.5%) from three-point range his last eight games and has averaged just under three 3-pointers made per game in his last 13 games. Fow, who is second on the team in scoring (12.4 ppg), has hit double figures in 11 of his last 13 games.
Evan Washington Top Ten in Dimes
With his career-high 11 assists against Utah on Jan. 5, senior Evan Washington moved into the top 10 on Air Force's career assist list. He is currently No. 5 on the list with 291. Washington's 11 assists against the Utes were the most in one game by a Falcon since A.J. Kuhle had 11 against San Diego State on March 1, 2004.
Stucky Finally Gets His Shot
Junior guard Scott Stucky appeared in his first career game Dec. 8 at Wright State. Stucky, playing just 30 minutes from his hometown of Dublin, Ohio, did not play in either of his first two years after suffering a torn ACL prior to each season. He scored four points at WSU.
Most Assists in Nearly Four Years
The Falcons dished out 24 assists against Tennessee State on Nov. 20, the most by an Air Force team since it had 24 against Norfolk State on Dec. 13, 2006.
Stellar Second Half vs. TSU
Air Force scored 58 points and shot 76 percent (19-of-25) from the field in the second half against Tennessee State on Nov. 20. The 58 points were the most in one half since scoring 58 in the second half vs. Utah on Jan. 16, 2007 and it was the best shooting percentage in one half since shooting 76.5 percent (13-of-17) in the first half against Utah on Jan. 19, 2006.
Still a Great Record at Clune
Including a 9-4 record at home this season, the Falcons have been hard to beat at Clune Arena the last seven seasons. Since the beginning of the 2003-04 season, Air Force has won 92 of its 121 home games, good for a .760 winning percentage.
In addition, the Falcons have won 38 of their 61 Mountain West Conference games at Clune during that same stretch (.623 winning percentage).
Washington in Search of 1,000
Evan Washington entered the 2010-11 campaign within striking distance of becoming the 23rd player in Air Force history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. Washington has 913 career points and is currently tied for 33rd on the school's career scoring list.
Falcons Near Top of League in Shooting Pcts.
Air Force leads the Mountain West Conference in three-point percentage (39.2%) and is third in field-goal percentage (47.6%) for all games played. The Falcons lead the league in both categories in MWC games only, shooting 47.1 percent from the field and 44.0 percent from long range in their 10 league games.
Tom Fow Named All-Tourney at Sun Bowl Invite
Senior Tom Fow was named to the all-tournament team at the Sun Bowl Invitational in El Paso, Texas on Dec. 28-29 after averaging 14 points and four rebounds in AFA's two games.
