Air Force hosts MW-leading Wyoming on Saturday
2/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
THE SERIES
Air Force and Wyoming are meeting for the 109th time overall. Wyoming leads the series, 74-34, overall. The Cowboys are 32-19 at the Academy, 36-14 at home and 6-1 in neutral site games. Air Force has won four of the last five meetings with the lone loss coming last season at the Academy, 66-59. The teams first played on Jan. 25, 1958 in Laramie. Air Force won the game, 78-73.
LAST SEASON VS. WYOMING
Air Force and Wyoming split the series series with each team winning on the road. Wyoming defeated Air Force, 66-59, Jan. 22. The Falcons won at Wyoming, 55-53, Feb. 25.
1/22/14 - Larry Nance, Jr. scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead three Cowboys in double figures as Wyoming rallied from a 15-point deficit to defeat Air Force, 66-59, Wednesday night in Clune Arena in a Mountain West Conference men's basketball game. The Cowboys out-scored Air Force 21-7 over the last 8:25 of the game by slowing the tempo and playing methodically. Nance scored 10 of Wyoming's final 17 points and hit all eight of his free throw attempts, including four-of-four in the final three minutes as Wyoming completed the comeback. Air Force used an 18-4 run to take a 30-15 lead with 5:00 remaining in the first half. The Cowboys closed the half on a 13-5 run to cut the lead to seven, 35-28, at halftime. Wyoming took its first lead, 56-54, since the 13:40 mark of the first half on a 3-pointer by Nathan Sobey with 3:59 remaining in the game. Tre' Coggins answered with a 3-pointer, but Wyoming took the lead for good, 58-57, with 3:07 remaining on a pair of free throws by Nance. Wyoming finished the game hitting 50 percent from the field, including a 61.1 clip in the second half. The Cowboys hit 23-of-25 free throws and committed just eight turnovers. Air Force hit 44.7 percent from the field, including a nine-of-23 effort from 3-point range, but shot just 10 free throws, making eight. Air Force out-rebounded Wyoming, 26-22, but committed 16 turnovers. Kamryn Williams led the Falcons with 17 points and grabbed six rebounds. Coggins chipped in with 15 points and Justin Hammonds had 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
2/25/14 -- Tre' Coggins scored 20 points and Max Yon added 14, including two late go-ahead free throws, as Air Force held on for a 55-53 win over Wyoming on Tuesday. Nathan Sobey had 18 points to pace Wyoming, while Jerron Granberry added 14 and Josh Adams 11. Yon's two free throws with 2:37 left put the Falcons ahead 51-50, and after Granberry was called for a charging foul, Yon added two more foul shots at the 1:47 mark. After a Coggins free throw made it 54-50, Adams drained a 3 with 13.6 seconds left to trim the lead to 54-53. Kamryn Williams made 1 of 2 free throws for Air Force with 11.7 seconds remaining and Sobey missed a 3 just before the buzzer. Freshman Darrius Parker gave the Falcons a big boost, coming off the bench to score six points and grab four rebounds in 15 minutes, his most action in a game since Nov. 30. Both teams struggled out of the gate as Coggins scored the first points of the game at the 16:49 mark with a three-pointer. Air Force was 9-of-25 and Wyoming was 8-of-22 from the field in the first 20 minutes as the Falcons held a 27-23 lead at the break. Air Force now has three league road wins in one season for the first time since 2008 and reached the five-win mark in league play for just the 10th time since joining a conference in 1981.
TWO SHOOTING TEAMS FACE EACH OTHER
Wyoming and Air Force are the top two shooting teams in the Mountain West. The teams are tied for the conference lead in field goal percentage with a 47.6 mark. Wyoming has hit 494-1,037 from the field while Air Force is 524-1,102.
AIR FORCE EARLIER THIS WEEK
Marek Olesinski scored 18 points to lead Air Force past New Mexico, 53-49, Wednesday night in a Mountain West game in Clune Arena. Olesinski hit a 3-pointer from the corner with 3:00 remaining to give the Falcons the lead for good, 51-49. Trevor Lyons added two free throws with 36 second remaining to seal the win for Air Force, who out-scored New Mexico 9-0 over the last 6:40 of the game. Air Force led 28-26 at the half and improved to 10-2 this season when leading at the half. The Lobos led by as many as five points several times, the last coming on a 3-pointer by Hugh Greenwood with 6:40 left. Greenwood led the Lobos with 15 points and eight rebounds and Deshawn DeLaney added 14 points. The Lobos were held to 40.5 percent shooting and had 15 turnovers. The Falcons hit just 40.4 percent from the field, 26.9 from three-point territory and 57.1 percent from the free throw line. Air Force entered the game shooting 85 percent from the line over its last three games. The Falcons were out-rebounded, 33-28, but had just eight turnovers in the game. Hayden Graham had nine points and a team-best six rebounds while Lyons finished with seven points and hit all four free throw attempts. Senior Max Yon added five points in his first action after missing the last six games.
