Falcons take on San Jose State in MW showdown
1/28/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television:.................... MW Network (Internet only)
Radio:............................... KVOR AM 740 (Jim Arthur, Matt Pauley)
THE BREAKDOWN
Quick Facts Air Force San Jose State
Record:..................... 10-11......................................................... 6-15
Conf. Record:...... 1-7............................................................... 1-8
Streak:........................ L 7................................................................ L 4
Last Game:............. at New Mexico (1/27)................... at Colorado State (1/27)
Lost 55-84 Lost 66-74
Next Game:........... vs. Wyoming (2/2)........................... vs. Fresno State (2/3)
Conference:.......... Mountain West................................. Mountain West
Nickname:............. Falcons..................................................... Spartans
Location:................. Colorado Springs, CO.................. San Jose, CA
Website:................... GoAirForceFalcons.com.............. SJSUSpartans.com
THE COACHES
Head Coach:......... Dave Pilipovich................................. Dave Wojcik
Alma Mater:......... Thiel College, 1986........................ Loyola, MD, 1991
School Record:... 56-66 (4th season).......................... 15-69 (3rd season)
Career Record:.... Same......................................................... Same
THE SERIES
Overall:..................... Air Force leads 5-3
First Meeting:..... Dec. 6, 1971 at Air Force (San Jose State, 74-67)
Last Meeting:...... Jan. 2, 2016 at Air Force (Air Force, 64-57)
Streaks...................... Air Force W 5
THE SERIES
Air Force and San Jose State are meeting for the ninth time overall and eighth time as conference foes. Air Force leads the series 5-3 overall and 5-2 in conference games. Air Force is 3-2 at home and 2-1 on the road. The Falcons have won five straight, including a 64-57 win earlier this season at the Academy to open conference play. Air Force swept last year's series, winning 78-56 at the Academy Jan. 17 and 66-52 at San Jose State Jan. 28.
EARLIER THIS SEASON VS. SAN JOSE STATE
Trevor Lyons matched his career high with 22 points, including 18 in the second half, and Hayden Graham added 15 points as Air Force defeated San Jose State, 64-57, in its Mountain West conference opener Jan. 2 in Clune Arena.
Air Force took control of the game midway through the first half, but had to hang down the stretch to win its conference opener for the fourth time in five seasons. Air Force out-scored San Jose State, 17-5, over the last 9:49 of the first half to take a 28-19 halftime lead. Six different Falcons scored during the run, led by Joe Tuss and Graham with four points each. The Falcons held San Jose State to just two-of-17 shooting over the stretch. The Spartans hit just 24 percent overall in the first half. Air Force forced 11 San Jose State turnovers in the first half while turning it over just four times.
The Falcons extended the lead to 15 points, 37-22, with a 9-2 spurt to open the second half. San Jose State cut the lead to nine, 41-32, with 13:20 to play, before Air Force used a 15-3 run to take its biggest lead of the game, 56-35, with 7:13 remaining. San Jose State responded with a 13-0 run to cut the lead to eight, 56-58, with 3:25 remaining. The Spartans got as close as five, 60-55, with 23 seconds left, but the Falcons put the game away hitting four straight free throws.
Air Force hit 83.3 percent from the line in the game on 25-of-30 shooting, including hitting 14 of its last 16 and six of the last eight in the final 3:17 of the game. Air Force also out-rebounded San Jose State, 37-35, and forced 20 turnovers. Air Force finished the game hitting 34.7 percent from the field while holding San Jose State to just 36.7 percent.
Lyons hit a career-high 11 free throws in 12 attempts, including four-of-four in the final 30 seconds. Kyle Broekhuis hit four-of-four, including the final two with just nine seconds left. He added nine points and a career-high seven rebounds. Zach Moer chipped in with eight points and three rebounds.
San Jose State was led by Princeton Onwas, who scored 19 points. Jaycee Hillsman added 11 and Frank Rogers 10. Ryan Welage added a team-high nine rebounds.
LAST TIME AT SAN JOSE STATE
Jan. 28, 2015 at San Jose State
Freshman Matt Mooney scored a career-high 20 points and Hayden Graham added 16 to lead Air Force past San Jose State, 66-52, in San Jose, Calif.
Mooney hit a three-pointer with 7:46 remaining in the first half to give Air Force its first lead of the game, 17-16. The three-pointer was part of a 9-0 run and the Falcons never trailed in the game after that. Air Force went on to take a 29-23 advantage at halftime and led by as many as 11 points, 46-35, midway through the second half. San Jose State cut the lead to four points, 48-44, with 7:52 left, but the Falcons steadily pushed the lead back to 10 with 4:25 left. The Falcons kept the Spartans at a distance thanks to hitting 18 of 20 free throws in the second half. Air Force hit 21 of 25 for the game and out-rebounded San Jose State, 33-25. The Falcons also had just 10 turnovers and six steals while holding the Spartans to just 38.6 percent shooting.
AIR FORCE'S LAST GAME
Elijah Brown scored 17 points to lead four Lobos in double figures as New Mexico beat Air Force, 84-55, Wednesday night in a Mountain West game in Albuquerque, N.M.
The Lobos used a 22-2 run midway through the second half to run away from Air Force. The Falcons, who trailed 45-30 at halftime, cut the lead to nine points, 56-47, with 11:32 remaining before the New Mexico run. The Lobos finished the game hitting 63 percent from the field, the best against Air Force this season. New Mexico hit 52.9 percent from 3-point range and out-rebounded Air Force, 42-26.
Anthony Mathis came off the bench to add 16 points while Tim Williams had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Lobos. Xavier Adams chipped in with 14 points.
Hayden Graham led Air Force with 14 points. Zach Moer chipped in with 12 points and a team-best five rebounds. The Falcons finished the game hitting just 27.6 percent from the field. Air Force hit a season-high 10 3-pointers, shooting 37.0 percent.
AIR FORCE IS.....
- 6-1 when leading at the half
- 8-1 when leading with 10:00 left
- 6-1 when out-rebounding opponent
- 6-4 when out-shooting opponent
- 8-2 when holding opponents under 70 points
3-BALL GOING DOWN
Air Force has averaged 7.6 made 3-pointers the last five games. The Falcons hit a season-high 10 at New Mexico Jan. 27, seven vs. Fresno State, nine vs. Colorado State, four at UNLV and eight at Utah State. Air Force is averaging 5.9 made 3-pointers per game overall which is the highest mark of the season.
FIELD GOAL SHOOTING
Air Force is shooting 42.3 percent from the field this season. The Falcons have out-shot nine opponents and are 6-3 when doing so. The team has hit over 50 percent five times and have a 4-1 record when doing so.
The Falcons shot a season-high 59.2 percent effort vs. Tennessee Tech and hit 55.2 percent against Citadel. Air Force hit 50 percent against UC Davis which is the best in a road game this season.
NINE LINEUPS
Air Force has used nine different starting lineups this season. Five Falcons have made the first start of their careers this season: Zach Moer, Joe Tuss, Kyle Broekhuis, Jacob Van and Pervis Louder. Two other Falcons have started every game this season: Zach Kocur and Trevor Lyons. Moer and Hayden Graham have started all 20 games they have played this season, but each missed one game due to injury.
FALCONS DEFENSE IMPROVED
Air Force has held 18 of 21 opponents under 50 percent shooting this season. Colorado (52.1), UNLV (50.0) and New Mexico (63.0) are the only opponents to hit 50 percent or better.
Air Force has allowed only five opponents (Colorado, Army, UNLV, Colorado State, New Mexico) to shoot 40 percent or better from 3-point range this season.
LYONS LEADS TEAM
Sophomore guard Trevor Lyons leads the team in assists (2.9) and steals (1.4) and is second in scoring (13.2). Lyons is 12th in the Mountain West in scoring, 10th in assists, fifth in steals, seventh in assists/turnover ratio (1.5) and sixth in minutes played (32.8).
Lyons matched his career high with 22 points and hit a career-best 11 free throws (12 attempts) vs. San Jose State. He also matched his career high with three 3-pointers and grabbed six rebounds and had three assists.
Lyons has hit the game-winner twice this season. Lyons scored 19 points against Mississippi Valley State, including a driving layup with one second left to win the game. Lyons did it at both ends against New Mexico State. He hit the game-winning layup with eight seconds left, then forced a charge on New Mexico's State's next possession with 2.5 seconds left and Air Force leading 65-64. The Aggies fouled Lyons on the inbounds pass and he hit one of two free throws with 1.3 seconds to seal the win.
GRAHAM AMONG MW LEADERS
Junior Hayden Graham is eighth in the MW in scoring (14.9) and ninth in rebounding (6.4). He is also second in field goal percentage (51.3) and second in minutes played (35.7).
Graham has hit 57.1 percent (20-35) of his 3-pointers, including a career-best five-of-five vs. Western State, the last 10 games.
Graham scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed seven rebounds and had three assists in 40 minutes against Colorado State Jan. 20. He hit 9-13 from the field, including 4-6 from 3-point range. His 25 points are the most by a Falcon this season. Graham had a team-best 14 points, two rebounds and three steals at New Mexico Wednesday.
LOUDER STEPS UP
Freshman Pervis Louder has stepped up recently. Louder is averaging 9.0 points and 21.0 minutes the last five games. He has hit 43.3 percent (13-30) from the field and 55.6 percent
(5-9) from 3-point range. Louder started for the first time in his career against Fresno State last Saturday. He responded with nine points and career highs of seven rebounds, three assists and 34 minutes. Louder scored 11 points and had four rebounds against Colorado State. He scored a career-high 13 points at UNLV and 10 points in 14 minutes and hit 2-2 threes at Utah State.
