Falcons travel to Denver to take on Pioneers
12/3/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
THE SERIES
Air Force and Denver will be meeting for the 47th time overall. The Pioneers lead the series, 25-23. Denver defeated Air Force, 63-53, in Denver Dec. 12, 2001, the last time the two played. Denver head coach Joe Scott coached the Falcons in that game. The teams first played Jan. 29, 1959 in Denver. The Pioneers won the game, 84-65.
AIR FORCE/DENVER CONNECTIONS
- Denver head coach Joe Scott was the head coach at Air Force from 2000-04. He led the Falcons to a 51-63 record in four seasons. Scott led the Falcons to the Mountain West title and an NCAA tournament berth in 2003-04.
- Denver Director of Basketball Operations Jon Jordan is a 1985 graduate of the Air Force Academy. Jordan lettered three years in basketball. He later was an assistant coach at the Academy from 2000-05.
- Air Force junior forward Kyle Broekhuis and Denver senior guard Nate Engesser were teammates in high school at Colorado Springs Christian.
AIR FORCE EARLIER THIS WEEK
The Citadel
Trevor Lyons scored a career-high 22 points and Hayden Graham added his third double-double of the season with a career-high 20 points and a game-high 10 rebounds to lead Air Force past The Citadel, 97-93, Wednesday night in a non-conference game in Clune Arena.
The Falcons, who trailed 41-35 at the half, used a 13-0 run early in the second half to take a 54-49 lead with 14:42 remaining and never trailed again. The Citadel tied the game on two occasions, the last coming at 70-all with 7:30 left. The Falcons pushed the lead to as many as 10 points, 87-77, with 2:47 remaining but had to hold off a furious Citadel rally in the final minutes. Kyle Broekhuis hit one of two free throws with three seconds remaining to make up the final margin.
Air Force hit 55.2 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Bulldogs, 47-33. The Falcons had a season-high 25 assists on 32 field goals while recording a season high in points. Air Force scored 62 points in the second half while shooting 66.7 percent. The 97 points is the most since scoring 102 vs. Western State on Nov. 15, 2012. The Falcons out-scored Citadel, 50-18, in the paint.
Lyons added a career-high nine assists and seven rebounds while Zach Moer added a career-high 14 points and seven rebounds. Zach Kocur added 14 points while Dezmond James came off the bench to score a career-high 12 points. The Falcons hit 29-of-45 free throws in the game.
Citadel was led by Warren Sledge, who scored 18 points to lead five players in double figures. Quinton Marshall added 15 points and Derrick Henry added 16 points and six rebounds off the bench. The Citadel hit 43.1 percent from the field, including 36 percent from 3-point range on 50 attempts.
AIR FORCE LAST WEEK
Air Force split a pair of games. The Falcons lost at Colorado, 81-70, Nov. 25 and returned home to defeat New Mexico State, 66-64, in overtime Nov. 28. The Falcons won the Air Force Classic with the New Mexico State win.
FALCONS PERFECT AT HOME
Air Force is 5-0 at home this season. Air Force has opened 5-0 at home for the second time under head coach Dave Pilipovich. Air Force also opened 5-0 at home in 2014-15.
Air Force has won close games with the average margin of victory of 5.8 points per game. The Falcons have had an average margin of victory of 3.0 the last two games, beating New Mexico State, 66-64, in overtime and Citadel, 97-93.
The last time Air Force opened 6-0 or better at home was 2006-07 when the team opened 13-0 at home.
