Air Force hosts UNLV on Tuesday
2/14/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television:............ CBS Sports Network (Carter Blackburn, Pete Gillen)
Radio:.................... KVOR AM 740 (Jim Arthur, Matt Pauley)
THE BREAKDOWN
Quick Facts Air Force UNLV
Record:............. 12-14.................................... 15-11
Conf. Record:.. 3-10....................................... 6-7
Streak:.............. L 2.......................................... W 2
Last Game:....... at San Diego State (2/13)... vs. Colorado State (2/13)
Lost 61-70 Won 87-80
Next Game:..... vs. New Mexico (2/20)....... vs. Nevada (2/20)
Conference:..... Mountain West................... Mountain West
Nickname:........ Falcons.................................. Runnin' Rebels
Location:.......... Colorado Springs, CO......... Las Vegas, NV
Website:.......... GoAirForceFalcons.com.... UNLVRebels.com
THE COACHES
Head Coach:..... Dave Pilipovich.................... Todd Simon
Alma Mater:.... Thiel College, 1986............. Central Michigan, 2003
School Record: 58-69 (4th season)............. 6-4 (1st season)
Career Record: Same..................................... Same
THE SERIES
Overall:............. UNLV leads, 33-11
First Meeting:. Jan. 10, 1981 at USAFA (Air Force, 51-50)
Last Meeting:.. Jan. 16, 2016 at UNLV (UNLV, 100-64)
Streaks.............. UNLV W 1
THE SERIES
Air Force and UNLV are meeting for the 45th time. The Rebels lead the overall series, 33-11, including a 31-10 mark in conference games. Air Force is 2-22 all-time in Las Vegas and 9-11 at home. The teams split last season's series, each winning at home. UNLV defeated Air Force, 74-63, Jan. 31, while the Falcons won 76-75 in Clune Arena Feb. 14. UNLV defeated Air Force earlier this season, 100-64, in Las Vegas. The teams first played Jan. 10, 1981 at the Academy resulting in a 51-50 Air Force win.
THE LAST MEETING VS. UNLV
Jan. 16, 2016 at UNLV
UNLV defeated Air Force, 100-64, in Las Vegas, Nev. Derrick Jones, Jr., scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead UNLV. Jerome Seagears added 17 points and Stephen Zimmerman, Jr., added 14 points and 12 rebounds as the Rebels won their second straight after opening conference play 0-3. UNLV used a 15-0 run early in the first half to race out to a 20 point lead, 20-5, with 12
minutes remaining and never looked back. The Rebels went on to lead by as many as 38 points in the game and held a 43-25 lead at the half. UNLV shot 50 percent from the field, including a 52.0 clip from 3-point range, and out-rebounded the Falcons, 52-20. The Rebels had 20 offensive rebounds and scored 26 second chance points. Hayden Graham scored 18 points to lead Air Force. Freshman Pervis Louder chipped in with a career-high 11 points.
THE LAST TIME AT AIR FORCE
Feb. 14, 2015 at USAFA
Marek Olesinski scored 19 points, including two free throws with 10 seconds remaining, and Matt Mooney added 12 points and two free throws with four seconds remaining to lead Air Force past UNLV, 76-75, in Clune Arena.
The Falcons hit five of six free throws in the final 17 seconds to hold off the Rebels. Freshman Trevor Lyons tied the score at 60-all with a pair of free throws with 5:05 remaining in the game, then gave the team a two point advantage with a driving layup with 4:44 left. Following a basket by Christian Wood to tie the game at 62-all, Zach Kocur hit a 3-pointer with 3:34 left to give the Falcons the lead for good, 65-62. Kocur hit two more threes, one to put Air Force up 68-64 with 2:05 left and another to push the lead to 71-66 with 44 seconds to play. Kocur scored 18 points and hit a career-high six 3-pointers. Lyons finished with 10 points and a career-best-tying five rebounds. Hayden Graham added eight points and a team-best six rebounds while Mooney added five rebounds and five assists.
AIR FORCE'S LAST GAME
Trey Kell made two 3-pointers in the final 3:20 and finished with 16 points for San Diego State, which bounced back from its first Mountain West Conference loss to beat Air Force 70-61 Feb. 13.
Winston Shepard and Malik Pope each scored 13 and Matt Shrigley had 12 points on four straight 3-pointers in the first half. The first-place Aztecs were coming off a 58-57 loss at Fresno State that snapped their 11-game winning streak to open conference play.
The Aztecs had to work for the victory after taking a 50-39 lead on Dakarai Allen's 3-pointer with 13:16 to go. The teams went scoreless for almost three minutes, and then Air Force's Jacob Van, Hayden Graham and Dezmond James each made a shot to pull to 50-45 and force SDSU to call a timeout.
Air Force pulled to 54-52 on Jacob Van's jumper with 5:18 left before Pope scored on a tip-in. Kell hit two 3-pointers to help stretch the lead to 62-52 with 1:46 left.
SDSU missed four straight free throws at one point before putting it away with four free throws by Shepard and two by Kell in the final 20 seconds.
Kell opened the game by missing his first five 3-pointers. He finally made his sixth attempt for a 34-22 lead with 4:14 before halftime.
Van and Graham each scored 17 for Air Force, which lost its second straight and 10th in 12 games. The Falcons have lost six straight to SDSU.
AIR FORCE IS.....
- 6-1 when leading at the half
- 9-1 when leading with 10:00 left
- 9-1 when leading with 5:00 left
- 8-1 when out-rebounding opponent
- 8-5 when out-shooting opponent
- 10-2 when holding opponents under 70 points
8-3 IN CLOSE GAMES
Air Force is 8-3 overall in games decided by eight points or less. The Falcons had a six-game winning streak snapped by falling to Colorado State, 83-79, Jan. 20. Fresno State defeated the Falcons, 56-55, Jan. 23 to hand the team back-to-back close losses. Air Force's only other loss came in the season opener at Southern Illinois, 77-75. Air Force defeated Wyoming, 70-62, Feb. 2, and Boise State, 61-53, Feb. 6.
HITTING THE BOARDS
Air Force is 8-1 this season when out-rebounding an opponent. The Falcons are averaging 34.7 rebounds per game this season. Air Force's lone loss when out-rebounding an opponent came to Colorado State, 83-79. The Falcons out-rebounded the Rams, 37-28. Air Force out-rebounded both opponents last week. Air Force held a 29-28 edge over Wyoming and a 39-33 advantage over Boise State.
FALCONS HAVE USED 12 LINEUPS
Air Force has used 12 different starting lineups this season. Six Falcons have made the first start of their careers this season: Zach Moer, Joe Tuss, Kyle Broekhuis, Jacob Van, Pervis Louder and Frank Toohey. Zach Kocur is the lone Falcon to start every game.
GRAHAM AMONG MW LEADERS
Junior Hayden Graham is 10th in the MW in scoring (14.3) and 11th in rebounding (6.1). He is also second in field goal percentage (50.5) and third in minutes played (35.8).
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 tie as the most by a Falcon this season. Graham led the Falcons with 23 points, five assists and two steals vs. Wyoming. He hit 9-14 field goals, including a half-court shot to end the first half. He scored eight points, four rebounds and three assists vs. Boise State. Graham hit his only 3-pointer of the game with 1:07 remaining to give Air Force a 60-53 lead. Graham led the Falcons with 17 points and nine rebounds, a conference season-high for him, at San Diego State Feb. 13. He played all 40 minutes.
LYONS OUT FOR SEASON
Sophomore guard Trevor Lyons is out for the remainder of the season due to injury. He last played Jan. 30 at San Jose State.
Lyons leads the team in assists (2.8) and steals (1.4) and is second in scoring (12.7).
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.
SIPLES STEPS UP, EARNS MW HONORS
Sophomore CJ Siples was named Mountain West player of the week and Madness Mountain West player of the week for his efforts in Air Force's two wins over Wyoming and Boise State. He moved into the starting lineup as the point guard last week for the injured Trevor Lyons and stepped up with two of the best games of his career.
Siples averaged 19.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game. He hit 64.7 percent (11-17) from the field, 57.1 percent (4-7) of his 3-pointers and 85.7 percent (12-14) from the free throw line.
Siples scored a career-high 25 points, which ties as the most by a Falcon this season, against Boise State. Siples eclipsed his previous high in the first half with 15 points. Siples also had career highs of four 3-pointers, seven rebounds and three steals.
He scored 13 points, had four rebounds, three assists and two steals without any turnovers in a career-high 36 minutes vs. Wyoming.
Siples has averaged 13.0 points and 5.0 rebounds his last four games as the starting point guard. He had six points, four rebounds, one assist and one steal in 22 minutes at Nevada Feb. 10. Siples had eight points and five rebounds at San Diego State Feb. 13.
TOOHEY STARTS, CONTINUES FINE PLAY
Sophomore Frank Toohey has averaged 9.6 points and 6.0 rebounds the last five games. He has hit 51.7 percent (15-29) from the field, 50.0 percent (2-4) from 3-point territory and 77.3 percent (17-22) from the three throw line.
Toohey recorded career highs of 17 points, seven rebounds and 29 minutes at San Jose State Jan. 30. Toohey led the Falcons in scoring for the first time in his career and in rebounding for the second time. He hit five of nine field goals, including a 3-pointer, and all six of his free throws. Five of his seven rebounds were offensive. Toohey made the first start of his career against Wyoming and responded with 13 points and six rebounds to record back-to-back double figure scoring games for the first time in his career. He was second in scoring and tied for the team-lead in rebounds. Toohey added nine points and a team-best seven rebounds in 20 minutes vs. Boise State. He had six points and two rebounds at Nevada Feb. 10. Toohey added four points, six rebounds and a career-best two assists at San Diego State Feb. 13.
