Falcons Open Mountain West Play at Boise State on Saturday
1/12/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 12, 2012
GAME #15Air Force Falcons vs. Boise State BroncosSaturday, Jan. 14, 20124 p.m. at Boise, Idaho (The Mtn.) Game Notes
SITELocation Boise, IdahoArena Taco Bell ArenaCapacity 12,480 RADIONetwork Air Force / IMG Sports NetworkFlagship AM 740 KVOR, Colo. Spgs.Play-by-Play Jim ArthurAnalyst Matt Pauley TELEVISIONNetwork The Mtn.Play-by-Play Ari WolfeAnalyst Brad Holland INTERNETLive Stats goairforcefalcons.com COACHESJeff Reynolds (UNC-Greensboro, 1978)Air Force 62-76, Fifth SeasonOverall 144-110, Ninth Season Leon Rice (Washington State, 1986)Boise State 32-18, Second SeasonOverall Same ALL-TIME SERIESOverall Boise State leads 1-0At Boise First MeetingFirst Game Dec. 27, 1991Result Boise State won 77-68 Falcons Open Mtn. West Play at Boise State on SaturdayThe Air Force Falcons open their 13th Mountain West campaign on Saturday, Jan. 14 against conference newcomer Boise State Broncos at the Taco Bell Arena in Boise, Idaho. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally on AM 740 KVOR and televised nationally on The Mtn. The Falcons are 10-4 after defeating Texas-Pan American, 67-50, at home on Monday, while Boise State is 10-5 after dropping a 72-59 decision at Fresno State on Jan. 2. Conference OpenersThe Falcons are 7-24 all-time in conference openers. They were 2-17 in conference openers in their 19 years in the Western Athletic Conference, with the two victories coming against San Diego State (86-75) in 1986-87 and Colorado State (69-58) in 1992-93. Air Force is 5-7 in conference openers since the Mountain West began play in 1999. The Falcons snapped a three-game conference opener losing streak last season with a 77-69 victory over Utah at Clune Arena. Air Force's Mountain West Openers:Date -- Opponent -- Result1/15/00 -- UNLV (H) -- L, 98-731/8/01 -- UNLV (A) -- L, 65-541/7/02 -- UNLV (H) -- L, 66-541/11/03 -- San Diego St. (H) -- L, 63-481/12/04 -- Colo. State (A) -- W, 65-571/8/05 -- Colo. State (H) -- W, 58-531/5/06 -- BYU (H) -- W, 75-591/3/07 -- Colo. State (A) -- W, 81-751/5/08 -- Utah (A) -- L, 58-361/3/09 -- San Diego St. (H) -- L, 44-611/6/10 -- TCU (A) -- L, 50-591/6/11 -- Utah (H) -- W, 77-69 Up NextThe Falcons play their first league home game on Wednesday, Jan. 18 against Wyoming at Clune Arena beginning at 6 p.m. Air Force Wins Fourth Straight By Defeating UTPATodd Fletcher led Air Force with 15 points and Kamryn Williams posted his first career double-double as the Falcons downed Texas-Pan American, 67-50, Monday night in their final non-conference game. Williams tied his career high with 11 points and pulled down a career-best 10 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end. He played a career-best 32 minutes and tied his personal best with four assists. Mike Fitzgerald (11) and Taylor Broekhuis (10) also scored in double figures for Air Force. Falcons Win Inaugural All-Military ClassicAir Force opened its 2011-12 season Nov. 11-12 with a pair of victories at the First Annual All-Military Classic. The Falcons used a second-half rally to defeat service-academy rival Army, 87-71, in the first round, then downed VMI, 75-65, in the championship game.Junior guard Michael Lyons was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after averaging 22 points and eight rebounds, while fellow junior Todd Fletcher was named to the all-tournament team after dishing out a career-high seven assists in each game.This was the first of a four-year contract for the All-Miltary Classic, with each school hosting once. Citadel will host in 2012, VMI in '13 and Army in '14. The tournament will be played each year during Veteran's Day weekend. Air Force Captures Third Place at Cable Car ClassicAir Force defeated Eastern Michigan, 42-37, in the consolation game of the Cable Car Classic. Todd Fletcher scored a career-high 18 points and freshman Colt Barnhill posted career-highs of five points and five rebounds. Freshman Kamryn Williams also pulled down a career-best five boards. The Falcons used a 17-5 run to open the second half to build a 35-25 lead with 7:52 remaining and never led by less than three points the rest of the way. Air Force held EMU to just 1-of-14 shooting from three-point range. Fletcher was named to the all-tournament team. Third-Fewest Points Ever in a VictoryAir Force's 42 points against Eastern Michigan on Dec. 30 were the third-fewest in a victory in school history and the fewest since a 39-36 win over Cornell on Dec. 29, 1981. The school record for fewest points in a victory is a 30-19 win over Regis on Dec. 12, 1978. Still a Great Record at CluneIncluding their 9-1 record this season, the Falcons have been hard to beat at Clune Arena the last eight seasons. Since the beginning of the 2003-04 season, Air Force has won 104 of its 135 home games, good for a .770 winning percentage. In addition, the Falcons have won 40 of their 64 Mountain West games at Clune during that same stretch (.625 pct). Mountain West / Missouri Valley ChallengeThe 2011-12 edition of the MWC/MVC Challenge was the third in a four-year agreement between the Mountain West and Missouri Valley Conferences. Eight Challenge games were played this year, with each conference winning four games. Illinois State and Southern Illinois were the two Valley teams that did not participate in the 2011-12 Challenge Series. Below are the 2011-12 MW/MVC Challenge results: Date -- ResultNov. 30 -- Creighton 85, San Diego State 83Dec. 3 -- Drake 62, Air Force 60Dec. 3 -- Boise State 74, Indiana State 65Dec. 3 -- Northern Iowa 83, Colorado State 77Dec. 3 -- New Mexico 76, Missouri State 60Dec. 3 -- TCU 70, Evansville 68 (ot)Dec. 3 -- Wyoming 66, Bradley 49Dec. 4 -- Wichita State 89, UNLV 70 Broekhuis, Williams Each Pick Up First Career Double-DoubleJunior Taylor Broekhuis played arguably the best game of his career in the championship game of the All-Military Classic on Nov. 12 against VMI. The 6-10 center from Colorado Springs scored 18 points, one shy of his career high, and pulled down a career-best 12 rebounds to post the first double-double of his career. His 12 rebounds were the most by a Falcon in one game since Jacob Burtschi hauled down 12 at Stanford on Nov. 15, 2006.Kamryn Williams posted his first career double-double on Monday against Texas-Pan American with 11 points and a career-high 10 rebounds, including seven on the fofensive end. His seven offensive rebounds were the most by a Falcon in one game since Burtschi had seven vs. IPFW on Dec. 31, 2005. Most Assists in Over a DecadeAir Force recorded 25 assists in the season-opener against Army, the most in one game by an AFA team since dishing out 25 against Long Beach State on Nov. 21, 2000. The Falcons added 20 assists the next day against VMI.Individually, junior Todd Fletcher had a career-high seven assists in each of his first two games and is ranked No. 8 in the Mountain West averaging 3.4 per game. Taylor Stewart is ninth at 3.2 per game. Carter Ties School Record for Steals in First Career GameFive freshmen saw action for Air Force during the opening weekend, but none had a better start than Chris Carter. The 6-3 guard from Port St. Lucie, Fla., had nine points, seven rebounds and seven steals in his first career game against Army. His seven steals tied the school record for one game and were the most by a Falcon since Tim Anderson, the 2007-08 Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year, had seven against San Diego State at the Mountain West Tournament on March 13, 2008. Fletcher 22nd Player to Reach 200 AssistsWith his two assists against Texas-Pan American on Monday, junior Todd Fletcher became the 22nd player in school history to dish out 200 career assists. The school began keeping assists as a season total in 1972. He needs 12 assists to move past Jacob Burtschi (211) into the top 20.Fletcher has been outstanding in his past three games, with 31 points, 16 rebounds, nine assists, four steals and no turnovers. He also shot 50 percent (7-of-14) from 3-point range in the three games. Falcons Playing Solid "D" This SeasonAir Force's defense has been very strong lately. After allowing an average of 62.2 points per game their first five games, the Falcons have allowed just 53.4 points per game their last nine. Opponents are shooting just 37.4 percent from the field and 30.1 percent from 3-point range this season and only two opponents (Colorado and Gonzaga) have shot better than 45 percent from the field and 40 percent from three-point land. Fitzgerald No. 5 on AFA's Career 3-Point Percentage ListJunior Mike Fitzgerald attempted his 150th career 3-pointer against Johnson & Wales, making him eligible for Air Force's career list for three-point percentage. Fitzgerald is shooting 41.3 percent (66-for-160) for his career, placing him No. 5 on the list behind Matt McCraw (46.5%), Dan Nwaelele (45.1%), Andrew Henke (42.0%) and Tom Fow (41.8%). 10-4 Ties Fourth-Best StartAir Force's 10-4 record ties the fourth-best start ever in program history after 14 games. The Falcons have been 13-1 twice in the past (2005-06 and '06-07), 12-2 once ('03-04), 11-3 two times and this is the third time at 10-4, the other two were the 1972-73 campaign and last season.
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Forward/Center
/ Men's Basketball
Guard/Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard/Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's BasketballJoe Crispin Introductory Press Conference
Tuesday, March 31
Jon jordan and Players Post GCU
Tuesday, March 03
Falcons fall to Grand Canyon
Tuesday, March 03
Jon jordan and Players Post San Jose State
Wednesday, February 25
