Falcons travel to Utah State
2/23/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
THE GAME
Air Force travels to Logan, Utah, to take on Utah State Saturday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m. MT in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum (10,270). This is the second meeting this season between the schools. Air Force defeated Utah State, 78-73, Dec. 31 at the Academy in its Mountain West home opener.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Internet:...... ROOT Sports (Drew Goodman, Joe Cravens)
Radio:............ KVOR AM 740 (Jim Arthur, Dan Acheson)
THE BREAKDOWN
Quick Facts Air Force Utah State
Overall Record:... 11-17....................................... 12-15
MW Record:......... 4-11......................................... 6-10
Streak:.................. W 1.......................................... W 1
Last Game:........... W 81-58 vs. UNLV.................. W 81-75 at San Jose St.
Next Game:......... at San Diego St. (3/1)............ at UNLV (3/1)
Conference:......... Mountain West ..................... Mountain West
Nickname:............ Falcons.................................... Aggies
Location:............... Colorado Springs, CO............ Logan, UT
Website:............... GoAirForceFalcons.com....... UtahStateAggies.com
THE COACHES
Category Air Force Utah State
Head Coach.......... Dave Pilipovich...................... Tim Duryea
Alma Mater.......... Thiel College, 1986............... North Texas, 1988
School Record...... 71-90 (5th season)................ 28-30 (2nd season)
Career Record..... Same........................................ Same
THE SERIES
Overall.............. Utah State leads 14-4
First Meeting... Feb. 15, 1963 at USAFA (Air Force, 66-65)
Last Meeting... Dec. 31, 2016 at USAFA (Air Force, 78-73)
Streaks.............. Air Force W 1
THE SERIES
Air Force and Utah State are meeting for the 19th time overall and seventh time as Mountain West foes. The Aggies lead the overall series, 14-4, and hold a 4-2 mark in MW meetings.
Air Force defeated Utah State, 78-73, earlier this season to snap a four-game Aggie winning streak in the series. The Falcons are 0-8 all-time in Logan. The team's first played Feb. 15, 1963 at the Academy. Air Force won the game, 66-65.
EARLIER THIS SEASON
Dec. 31, 2016 at USAFA
Junior Jacob Van hit three of four free throws in the final 17 seconds, the final two coming with 2.1 seconds, to lead Air Force past Utah State, 78-73, in a Mountain West Conference game in Clune Arena.
Van scored 16 points to lead the Falcons, including six of the team's last seven points in the final 93 seconds. Junior Trevor Lyons broke a 68-all tie with a deep 3-pointer from the corner to give Air Force a 71-68 lead with 2:52 remaining. Van drilled a three from the top on the next possession to push the lead to 74-68 with 1:39 to play. Jalen Moore hit a layup and Koby McEwen hit a three sandwiched around a free throw by Lyons to make it 75-73 with 49 seconds left. Van then closed the game for the Falcons at the free throw line.
Van hit 5-12 field goals, including three of four from 3-point territory, and scored 10 of his points in the second half. Hayden Graham added 11 points and two blocks, including one in the final seconds to give Air Force a possession. Frank Toohey chipped in with 11 points.
Air Force hit 49.2 percent from the field, including a 53.8 clip in the second half. The Falcons hit 47.6 percent from three, including 5-9 in the second half. Air Force had just eight turnovers while forcing 12. The team won for the first time in five games when being out-rebounded, losing by a 33-31 margin. Air Force out-scored Utah State in the paint (26-24) and had more points off turnovers (19-13) and bench points (25-22).
Utah State was led by McEwen, who had 22 points and six rebounds. Moore added 21 points and four rebounds. The Aggies hit 46.3 percent from the field, including 13 of 33 from 3-point territory. The Aggies were 10-11 from the free throw line.
Air Force scored the first 15 points in the game, but Utah State countered to tie the game at 19-19 with 12:09 to play in the first half. Utah State took its only lead of the game, 34-31, with 4:43 to play in the half. Air Force answered with three from CJ Siples to tie it and took the lead, 37-34, with 3:22 on a three by Van. Air Force would never trail again. The Falcons led for 35:44 in the game, while trailing for just 20 seconds. The game was tied for 3:56.
LAST TIME AT UTAH STATE
Jan. 12, 2016
Jalen Moore scored 20 points to lead four players in double figures as Utah State defeated Air Force, 79-60, in Logan, Utah. Moore added six rebounds and six assists while Chris Smith chipped in with 19 points, Shane Rector 13 and Julion Pearre 12 for the Aggies.
Air Force used a 8-2 spurt to take a 24-19 lead with 7:02 left in the first half. Utah State answered with a 13-0 run to take a 32-24 lead with 3:40 left in the half. The Aggies took a 36-28 halftime lead and opened the second half with an 8-1 spurt to take a 44-29 lead with just over 18 minutes left. The Falcons never got it closer than 12 points the rest of the way.
Utah State hit 46.4 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Falcons, 41-32. Air Force hit just 36.8 percent from the field and 58.8 from the free throw line. Zach Moer led the Falcons with 12 points while Zach Kocur chipped in with 11 points and a team-best eight rebounds. Freshman Pervis Louder added 10 points.
AIR FORCE'S LAST GAME
Senior Hayden Graham had a historic night to lead Air Force past UNLV, 81-58, in a Mountain West game at Clune Arena. The victory snapped a six-game losing streak for the Falcons.
Graham scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to surpass the 500-rebound mark for his career and become the eighth player in Air Force history with 1,000-plus points and 500-plus rebounds. He became the 24th player in school history to hit the century mark earlier this season.
Fellow senior Zach Kocur got the Falcons rolling early, scoring the first nine points for Air Force with three 3-pointers as the Falcons build an early 14-4 lead. UNLV used a 9-0 run to take its first lead, 21-20, with 9:57 remaining in the half. The Falcons took the lead for good, 27-26, on a three-point play by Frank Toohey with 3:23 remaining in the first stanza. The three-point play keyed a 14-2 run to close the half and give Air Force a 38-38 halftime lead.
Air Force used a 12-5 spurt to open the second half to take a 50-33 lead with 15:37 left. UNLV was never able to get closer than 13 points after that. Air Force built to the lead to as many as 27 points, 75-48, with 5:05 to play. The 27-point lead is the biggest by the Falcons in a conference game this season.
Kocur finished with 16 points, while Pervis Louder matched his career high with 13 points. Freshman Lavelle Scottie added a career-high 12 points and Jacob Van chipped in with 10 points and a team-best four assists.
The Falcons finished the game hitting 47.4 percent from the field and 53.8 percent from three, hitting a season-best 14 3-pointers. Air Force out-rebounded UNLV, 34-30, and forced 15 turnovers while turning it over just 10 times. Air Force had 20 assists and 27 field goals.
UNLV hit just 38.0 percent from the field, including 33.3 from three. Tyrell Green led the Runnin' Rebels with 11 points. Jalen Poyser and Jovan Mooring chipped in with 10 points each.
Team Notes
- The starters for Air Force were Sid Tomes, Zach Kocur, Ryan Manning, Hayden Graham and Frank Toohey. The Falcons started for the second straight game. Air Force has used six different starting lineups this season.
- Air Force snapped a six-game losing streak, winning for the first time since beating San Diego State, 60-57, Jan. 24 at the Academy.
- Air Force improved to 11-6 at home this season, including a 4-4 mark in Mountain West home games. The Falcons are 15-7 in their last 22 home games, including an 8-5 mark in the last 13 conference home games.
- Air Force improved to 13-35 all-time vs. UNLV, including a 12-33 mark. The Falcons improved to 11-11 all-time at home vs. the Runnin' Rebels. Air Force and UNLV have split the last 10 regular season meetings dating back to 2013.
- Air Force led UNLV, 38-28, at the half. The Falcons are 10-5 this season when leading at the half.
- Air Force improved its school record streak of consecutive games with a 3-pointer to 242 games dating back to Nov. 21, 2009 vs. Northern Colorado.
- Air Force out-rebounded UNLV, 34-30. The Falcons are 10-5 this season when out-rebounding their opponent.
- Air Force led 58-42 at the 10:00 minute mark of the game. The team is 10-3 this season when leading with 10:00 minutes to play. The Falcons also led 75-48 at the 5:00 minute mark to improve to 10-2 this season when leading with 5:00 to play in the game.
- Air Force led by as many as 27 points which is the largest vs. a Mountain West team this season. The previous big lead in a conference game was 15 vs. Utah State Dec. 31.
Individual Notes
- Senior Hayden Graham scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to reach the 500-rebound mark for his career. Graham surpassed the 1,000-point mark earlier this season. He is the eighth player in Air Force history to score 1,000-plus points and grabbed 500-plus rebounds. Graham is the first to do it since Jacob Burtschi, who had 1,205 points and 600 rebounds. Graham has 1,048 points and 501 rebounds in his career. The double-double is his third this season and 11th of his career. He is the active career leader at Air Force with 11 double-doubles. This season is his third with at least three double-doubles. Graham also matched his career high with two blocked shots. He also had two vs. Fresno State earlier this season vs. Fresno State (1-11).
- Senior Zach Kocur scored 16 points to record his record his 15th double figure scoring game of the season. Kocur hit four 3-pointers which is his most in six games.
- Junior Frank Toohey hit 3-3 free throws. He has hit 18 straight free throws over the last five games.
- Sophomore Pervis Louder matched his career high with 13 points. He also had 13 vs. Wyoming earlier this season (2-4).
- Junior Jacob Van scored 10 points to record his second straight game in double figures. Van had 12 points at San Jose State last weekend.
- Freshman Lavelle Scottie scored a career-high 12 points. His previous high was 11 at San Jose State in Air Force's last game.
