Falcons travel to San Jose State for MW game
2/16/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
THE GAME
Air Force travels to San Jose, Calif., to take on San Jose State Saturday, Feb. 18, at 2 p.m. PT in The Events Center (5,000). This is the second meeting between the schools this season. San Jose State defeated Air Force, 89-85, Jan. 14 at the Academy.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Internet:...... MW Network
Radio:............ KVOR AM 740 (Jim Arthur, Dan Acheson)
THE BREAKDOWN
Quick Facts Air Force San Jose State
Overall Record:... 10-16....................................... 13-11
MW Record:......... 3-10......................................... 6-7
Streak:.................. L 5............................................ L 1
Last Game:........... L 59-78 vs. Nevada................ L 59-77 at Fresno State
Next Game:......... vs. UNLV (2/22)...................... vs. Utah State (2/22)
Conference:......... Mountain West ..................... Mountain West
Nickname:............ Falcons.................................... Spartans
Location:............... Colorado Springs, CO............ San Jose, CA
Website:............... GoAirForceFalcons.com....... SJSUSpartans.com
THE COACHES
Category Air Force San Jose State
Head Coach.......... Dave Pilipovich...................... Dave Wojcik
Alma Mater.......... Thiel College, 1986............... Loyola Maryland, 1991
School Record...... 70-89 (5th season)................ 31-85 (4th season)
Career Record..... Same........................................ Same
THE SERIES
Overall.............. Tied 5-5
First Meeting... Dec. 6, 1971 at USAFA (San Jose State, 74-67)
Last Meeting... Jan. 14, 2017 at USAFA (San Jose State, 89-85)
Streaks.............. San Jose State W 2
THE SERIES
Air Force and San Jose State are meeting for the 11th time overall and 10th time as conference foes. The series is tied 5-5 overall and Air Force leads 5-4 in conference games. Air Force is 3-3 at home and 2-2 on the road. San Jose State beat Air Force, 89-85, earlier this season (Jan. 14) at the Academy. The Spartans have won two straight in the series. The teams split last year's series, each winning at home. Air Force defeated San Jose State, 64-57, to win its fifth straight in the series. The Spartans beat Air Force, 75-54, in San Jose. Air Force's last win in the series came Jan. 2, 2016 in San Jose, 64-57, which was the team's last conference road win.
The teams first played Dec. 6, 1971 at the Academy. San Jose State won the game, 74-67.
EARLIER THIS SEASON
Jan. 14, 2017 at USAFA
Brandon Clarke scored 36 points to lead San Jose State past Air Force, 89-85, Jan. 14 at the Academy.
Jalen James hit two free throws with 19 seconds left to give San Jose State an 87-83 lead. Following a pair of free throws by Trevor Lyons with 12 seconds left to make it a two-point game, the Falcons forced a turnover with 11 seconds left. On the next possession, Lyons drove the lane and dished off to Lavelle Scottie, but his short jumper was blocked by Clarke. Brandon Mitchell then made a steal on the rebound and passed it ahead to Clarke, who ended the game with a dunk to make up the final margin.
Clarke added five rebounds, five assists and five blocked shots to his scoring effort. Cody Schwartz and E.J. Boyce each added 14 points while Ryan Welage chipped in with 10 points for the Spartans. San Jose State finished the game shooting 60.7 percent from the field, including 47.6 from three. The Spartans also hit 11 of 13 free throws, including four straight with under a minute to play.
Air Force shot a season-high 57.1 percent from the field, but just 35.3 three 3-point territory. The Falcons out-rebounded San Jose State, 26-22, and had 18 assists on 28 field goals. Lyons scored a career-high 24 points and had four assists to lead the Falcons. His 24 points are the most by a Falcon this season. Hayden Graham added 19 points and a team-high six rebounds. Frank Toohey had 17 points while Jacob Van chipped in with 12 points and four assists.
The game was back and forth throughout and featured 15 lead changes and eight ties. The last lead change came on a hoop by Clarke with 5:15 remaining to give San Jose State a 72-71 lead.
Team Notes
- The starters for Air Force were Jacob Van, Trevor Lyons, Zach Kocur, Hayden Graham and Frank Toohey. The lineup started for the second straight game and 10th time this season.
- The Falcons shot a season-high 57.1 percent from the field. Air Force has shot 50 percent of better six times this season and is 5-1 on those games.
Individual Notes
- Junior Trevor Lyons scored a career-high 22 points. Lyons recorded his season high in the first half with 19 points, the most by a Falcons in a half this season. His previous season scoring high was 18 points in Air Force's last game, an 81-72 win over Fresno State Jan. 11. Lyons has recorded three 20-plus games in his career. He has scored in double figures in each game since returning to the starting lineup in Air Force's last game for the first time since Nov. 30.
- Junior Frank Toohey scored 17 points. He has scored in double figures 11 times this season, including five of the last six games.
- Junior Jacob Van scored 12 points to record his 12th double figure scoring game of the season which ranks second on the team.
- Senior Hayden Graham scored 19 points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Graham has scored in double figures a team-best 13 times this season.
AIR FORCE'S LAST GAME
Cameron Oliver scored 25 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead Nevada past Air Force, 78-59, Wednesday night in a Mountain West game in Clune Arena at the Academy.
Nevada closed the half with a 7-2 spurt to take a 41-28 halftime lead. The Falcons opened the second half with a 6-2 run to cut the lead to nine points, 43-34, with 17:23 remaining, but the Wolf Pack build the lead back to double figures and controlled the game the rest of the way. Air Force got as close as 12 points three times, the last coming with 6:50 remaining, 65-43. Nevada led by as many as 20 points on several occasions, the last coming with 3:00 minutes remaining, 75-55.
Nevada shot 52 percent from the field, including 54.2 percent from 3-point territory. Oliver led the way, hitting nine of 12 field goals. The Wolf Pack out-rebounded Air Force, 42-22, and had 19 assists on 26 made field goals. D.J. Fenner added 15 points and four assists. Jordan Caroline added 10 points and eight rebounds while Marcus Marshall chipped in with 10 points and a team-best five assists.
Air Force was led by freshman Sid Tomes, who scored a career-high 18 points in a career-best 28 minutes. Hayden Graham added 14 points and four rebounds, but was hampered with foul trouble and played just 21 minutes. Air Force shot just 39.3 percent from the field, including 26.7 percent from three on eight-of-30 shooting.
