Falcons host New Mexico Wednesday
2/6/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 6, 2017
THE GAME
Air Force hosts New Mexico on Wednesday, Feb. 7, at 7 p.m. MT in Clune Arena. This game is the lone meeting between the two schools this season and marks the third in the last four games for the Falcons overall.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Internet:...... ROOT Sports (Drew Goodman, Marty Fletcher, Marc Stout)
Radio:............ KVOR AM 740 (Jim Arthur, Dan Acheson)
THE BREAKDOWN
Quick Facts Air Force New Mexico
Overall Record:... 10-13....................................... 14-10
MW Record:......... 3-7............................................ 7-5
Streak:.................. L 2............................................ L 1
Last Game:........... L 74-83 vs. Wyoming............ L 68-78 vs. San Jose State
Next Game:......... at Boise State (2/11)............. vs. Boise State (2/14)
Conference:......... Mountain West ..................... Mountain West
Nickname:............ Falcons.................................... Lobos
Location:............... Colorado Springs, CO............ Albuquerque, NM
Website:............... GoAirForceFalcons.com....... GoLobos.com
THE COACHES
Category Air Force New Mexico
Head Coach.......... Dave Pilipovich...................... Craig Neal
Alma Mater.......... Thiel College, 1986............... Georgia Tech, 1988
School Record...... 70-86 (5th season)................ 73-48 (4th season)
Career Record..... Same........................................ Same
THE SERIES
Overall.............. New Mexico leads 57-22
First Meeting... Dec. 7, 1957 at New Mexico (New Mexico, 68-50)
Last Meeting... Feb. 20, 2016 at USAFA (Air Force, 76-72)
Streaks.............. Air Force W 1
PROBABLE STARTERS
Air Force
Pos # Name HT WT YR PPG RPG
G 20 Trevor Lyons 6-3 190 Jr. 8.7 3.7
G 15 Jacob Van 6-2 185 Jr. 11.5 3.0
G 5 Zach Kocur 6-3 200 Sr. 10.4 4.5
F 35 Hayden Graham 6-5 195 Sr. 11.9 5.6
C 33 Frank Toohey 6-7 220 Jr. 11.9 4.5
New Mexico
Pos # Name HT WT YR PPG RPG
G 4 Elijah Brown 6-4 200 Jr. 19.0 5.1
G 5 Jalen Harris 6-2 165 Fr. 5.0 1.8
G/F 24 Damien Jefferson 6-5 190 Fr. 5.4 2.3
F 23 Joe Furstinger 6-9 215 Jr. 3.5 3.2
C 11 Obij Aget 7-1 220 Sr. 5.3 3.3
THE SERIES
Air Force and New Mexico are meeting for the 80th time overall. The Lobos hold a 57-22 overall lead in the series. New Mexico is 34-4 at home, 20-16 at the Academy and 3-2 in neutral site games.
Air Force has won three of the last four in the series. The teams split last year's season series, each winning at home. New Mexico beat Air Force, 84-55, in Albuquerque while the Falcons were 76-72 winners at the Academy. Air Force has won three straight at home dating back to a Jan. 31, 2012, New Mexico win, 81-42.
The teams first played Dec. 7, 1957 in Albuquerque. The Falcons won the game, 68-50.
LAST SEASON
Feb. 20, 2016 at USAFA
Air Force defeated New Mexico, 76-72, to win its fourth straight home game. Hayden Graham scored all of his 21 points and grabbed nine of his 11 rebounds in the second half to lead the Falcons and record his fifth double-double of the season.
Air Force out-scored New Mexico, 23-13, over a six minute period in the second half to overcome a nine-point deficit and take the lead for good, 67-66, with 3:44 remaining. Graham and sophomore Jacob Van combined to score 21 of the 23 points for the Falcons. Van finished with a career-high 22 points to lead Air Force in scoring for the third straight game.
Zach Kocur added 13 points and eight rebounds for the Falcons while CJ Siples added nine points and six assists. The Falcons shot 48.2 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Lobos, 39-36. Elijah Brown scored 32 points to lead New Mexico. Tim Williams added 17 points and 13 rebounds while Cullen Neal added 12 points and six rebounds. New Mexico shot 41.4 percent from the field and had 17 turnovers.
Jan. 27, 2016 at New Mexico
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'S LAST GAME
Vs. Wyoming, Feb. 4, 2016 at USAFA
Justin James scored 26 points and had seven assists to lead Wyoming past Air Force, 83-74, Feb. 4 in Clune Arena.
The Cowboys opened the second half with a 13-2 run to take its biggest lead of the game, 60-38, with 16:04 remaining. Air Force changed its entire lineup and the reserves responded with a 19-1 run to cut the lead to six points, 61-55, with 9:38 to play. Pervis Louder keyed the run with nine points. Wyoming scored four straight to extend the lead back to 10 points, 65-55, and never allowed Air Force closer than eight points after that. The Cowboys hit eight-of-eight free throws in the final 1:46 to secure the win.
Alan Herndon added 16 points and five rebounds for Wyoming while Jeremy Lieberman chipped in with 14 points. The Cowboys hit 16 of their first 20 shots and ended the first half shooting 62.1 percent from the field in the first half to build a 47-36 halftime lead.
Air Force switched its defenses in the second half and cooled the Cowboys, holding them to 37.8 percent in the stanza, but Wyoming finished the game hitting 50 percent from the field. Wyoming out-rebounded Air Force, 39-37 and held Air Force to just 35.8 percent shooting.
Frank Toohey scored a career-high 23 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead Air Force. Louder chipped in with a career-best 13 points and a season-high six rebounds. CJ Siples added a season-best six rebounds.
Team Notes
- The starters for Air Force were Jacob Van, Trevor Lyons, Zach Kocur, Hayden Graham and Frank Toohey. The lineup started for the seventh straight game and 15th time this season. The Falcons have started three different lineups this season.
- Air Force improved its school record streak of consecutive games with a 3-pointer to 237 games dating back to Nov. 21, 2009 vs. Northern Colorado.
- The attendance of 3,852 was a season high. The previous mark was 3,530 vs. Colorado.
- Air Force falls to 10-4 overall at home, including a 3-2 mark in conference home games.
Individual Notes
- Junior Frank Toohey scored a career-high 23 points. Toohey has scored in double figures in two straight and five of the last six games. Toohey has led the Falcons in scoring a team-best eight times this season. He has topped the 20-point mark twice this season. Toohey's previous career scoring high was 22 points earlier this season vs. Stetson.
- Sophomore Pervis Louder scored a career-high 13 points and grabbed a season-high six rebounds. His previous high was also 13 points vs. UNLV last season.
- Junior CJ Siples grabbed a season-high six rebounds.
