Air Force opens Mountain West play at Wyoming
12/26/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
THE GAME
Air Force returns to action for the first time since the holiday break. The Falcons travel to Laramie, Wyo., to take on Wyoming Wednesday, Dec. 28, at 7 p.m. in the Arena-Auditorium (11,445).
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television:.... Mountain West Network/Internet, Live on Twitter
at https://twitter.com/i/live/809528763021041664
Radio:............ KVOR AM 740 (Jim Arthur, Dan Acheson)
THE BREAKDOWN
Quick Facts Air Force Wyoming
Record:................. 7-6............................................ 10-3
Streak:.................. W 1.......................................... L 1
Last Game:........... W 77-67 vs. UC Davis............ L 92-94 OT vs. USC
Next Game:......... vs. Utah State (12/31)........... at UNLV (12/31)
Conference:......... Mountain West ..................... Mountain West
Nickname:............ Falcons.................................... Cowboys
Location:............... Colorado Springs, CO............ Laramie, WY
Website:............... GoAirForceFalcons.com....... GoWYO.com
THE COACHES
Category Air Force Wyoming
Head Coach.......... Dave Pilipovich...................... Allen Edwards
Alma Mater.......... Thiel College, 1986............... Kentucky, 2002
School Record...... 67-79 (5th season)................ 10-3 (1st season)
Career Record..... Same........................................ Same
THE SERIES
Overall.............. Wyoming leads, 75-36
First Meeting... Jan. 25, 1958 at Wyoming (Air Force, 78-73)
Last Meeting... Feb. 2, 2016 at Air Force (Air Force, 70-62)
Streaks.............. Air Force W 1
Notes Air Force and Wyoming are meeting for the 112th time ... Wyoming leads the series, 75-36 ... The Cowboys are 32-21 at the Academy, 37-14 at home and 6-1 in neutral site games.
THE SERIES
Air Force and Wyoming are meeting for the 112th time overall. Wyoming leads the series, 75-36. The Cowboys are 32-21 at the Academy, 37-14 at home and 6-1 in neutral site games.
Air Force has won six of the last eight meetings. The teams split last season. Wyoming defeated Air Force, 64-52, in Laramie Jan. 5, 2016. Air Force beat Wyoming, 70-62, Feb. 2, 2016 at the Academy. The teams first played on Jan. 25, 1958 in Laramie. Air Force won the game, 78-73.
LAST SEASON VS. WYOMING
Jan. 6, 2016 in Laramie
Josh Adams scored 20 points and had 10 rebounds to lead Wyoming past Air Force, 64-52, in Laramie, Wyo.
Wyoming, who led 31-23 at halftime, opened the second half with a 9-2 spurt to take its biggest lead of the game, 40-25, with 16:27 left. All nine points came via the 3-pointer from three different players. The Falcons responded with a 16-2 run to cut the lead to 42-41, with 10:45 remaining in the game. Wyoming hit back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead back to six, 47-41, and steadily pulled away from there.
The Cowboys finished the game hitting 43.1 percent from the field, but hit 11 3-pointers and shot 39.3 percent from beyond the arc. The Cowboys also out-rebounded Air Force, 38-31. Jeremy Lieberman added 13 points while Jason McManamen chipped in with 10.
Air Force hit just 37.0 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from 3-point range. The Falcons hit just 54.5 percent (6-11) from the free throw line after hitting better than 80 percent in the previous two games. Trevor Lyons led the Falcons with 14 points, all coming in the second half after being limited with foul trouble in the first stanza. Hayden Graham added 13 points and three assists and Zach Kocur finished with 11 points, all in the first half, and a career-high eight rebounds.
Wyoming used an 18-2 run midway through the first half to take control of the game. The Falcons had build its largest lead, 17-13, with 9:46 remaining before the Cowboys used the spurt to take its biggest lead, 31-19, with 4:32 remaining. The Falcons closed the half with the final four points, all by Graham. Wyoming took the lead for good, 18-17, with 8:55 remaining in the first half.
Feb. 2, 2016 at USAFA
Hayden Graham scored 23 points to lead four Falcons in double figures as Air Force defeated Wyoming, 70-62, in Clune Arena. The victory ended an eight-game losing streak for the Falcons.
Graham ignited the crowd and gave the Falcons much-needed momentum with a half-court shot as time expired in the first half to cut the Wyoming lead to 36-29. The Falcons opened the second half with a 9-1 run to take their first lead since early in the first half, 38-37, with 17:33 remaining. Wyoming answered with a 9-3 spurt to take a 48-41 lead with 11:54 left to play. Air Force battled back to tie the game at 54-all with 7:08 remaining, then used a 9-0 run to take its biggest lead, 63-54, with 3:12 remaining. The Falcons hit seven of 10 free throws in the final two minutes to secure the win.
Frank Toohey, who started for the first time in his career, had 13 points and six rebounds. C.J. Siples added 13 points, four rebounds, three assist, two steals and no turnovers in 36 minutes starting for the injured Trevor Lyons. Zach Moer added 11 points in 10 minutes and Zach Kocur chipped in with six points and six rebounds.
The Falcons shot 52.3 percent from the field to improve to 5-1 this season when out-shooting an opponent. The Falcons also improved to 7-1 when out-rebounding an opponent, holding a 29-28 advantage over the Cowboys. Air Force had just 10 turnovers while forcing 13 and held Wyoming to just 42.6 percent shooting, including 28.6 percent in the second half.
Wyoming was led by Josh Adams, who scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Jason McManamen added 17 points while Alan Herndon chipped in with 11.
AIR FORCE IN CONFERENCE OPENERS
Air Force is 11-25 all-time in conference openers, including a 9-8 mark in the Mountain West. The Falcons are 8-8 at home and 3-17 on the road. Air Force is 6-4 at home and 3-4 on the road in MW openers. Head Coach Dave Pilipovich is 3-1 in MW openers.
Overall: 11-25 (8-8 home, 3-17 away)
WAC: 2-17 (2-4 home, 0-13 away)
MW: 9-8 (6-4 home, 3-4 away)
LAST TIME OUT
Frank Toohey scored 17 points to lead three Falcons in double figures as Air Force beat UC Davis, 77-67, Thursday afternoon in a non-conference game in Clune Arena.
Air Force opened the second half with a 10-2 run to take a 40-30 lead with 17:32 remaining in the game. The Falcons extended the lead to as many as 16 points, 53-37, with 12:45 remaining. UC Davis responded with a 19-7 spurt to cut the lead to four points, 60-56, with 5:56 left to play. Air Force quickly pushed the lead back to 10 points on three occasions, the last to make up the final score.
Dane Norman came off the bench to record career highs of 13 points, six rebounds and 24 minutes for the Falcons. Jacob Van chipped in with 13 points, including a 3-pointer on the final play of the first half to give Air Force the halftime lead, 30-28. The Falcons never trailed from that point. Lavelle Scottie added eight points and a career-best eight rebounds.
Air Force shot 49 percent from the field, including a 55.6 clip in the second half. The Falcons out-rebounded UC Davis, 37-34, while holding the Aggies to just 39.1 percent shooting. UC Davis was led by Brynton Lemar, who had 14 points. J.T. Adrenrele added eight points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
NON-CONFERENCE RECAP
Air Force closed the non-conference schedule with a 7-6 overall record. The Falcons were 7-2 at home, 0-2 on the road and 0-2 in neutral site games. This season marks the fifth straight winning non-conference record under head coach Dave Pilipovich. Air Force was 2-2 in the Savannah Invitational, including a 2-0 mark at home and 0-2 mark in neutral site games. Air Force opened the season with a 5-0 mark at home which is the second best home start in school history. Air Force was 5-3 in November and 2-3 in December. The team posted a 6.8 scoring margin and 3.6 rebounding margin.
FALCONS IN THE MW
Air Force leads the conference in 3-point field goal percentage at 41.7 percent. The Falcons are second in 3-pointers made per game with a 9.1 clip.
The Falcons lead the conference in scoring offense (78.7), rank third in free throw percentage (73.9) and second in assists (15.8) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.4).
FREE THROWS
Air Force is shooting 73.9 percent from the free throw line this season which is third in the Mountain West. The mark is the best at Air Force since 2007 when the team hit 75.5. Air Force has hit 80 percent or better five times. Air Force hit 81.8 percent (28-32) vs. Missouri State. The team hit 13 of its final 14 in the final four and one-half minutes to help secure a win. The Falcons hit 70.4 percent against UC Davis, but hit 10-11 (90.9 percent) in the second half to secure the win, including 4-4 in the final three minutes. Air Force has made just five less free throws (229) then its opponents have attempted (234).
UPDATES ON PERSONNEL
The following are recent Air Force basketball players and what they are doing now in and out of the Air Force.
- Saj El-Amin- Class of 2010; Stationed at Travis AFB, CA; Currently a C-17 pilot and executive officer for the 21st Airlift Squadron
- Grant Parker- Class of 2010; Lives in Montgomery, AL; Currently a franchise operator for Chick-Fil-A
- Tom Fow- Class of 2011; Lives in Aurora, CO; Currently a practicing dentist
- Taylor Stewart- Class of 2012; Stationed at Scott AFB, IL; Currently a C-21 pilot providing unrivaled air mobility operations for the 458th Airlift Squadron
- Scott Stucky- Class of 2012; Stationed at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH; Currently a deputy program manager for the $500M Battlefield Air Operations (BAO) Kit providing a Human Weapon System to today's and tomorrow's dismounted warfighter.
