Air Force Academy
Wyoming
Falcons down Wyoming in opening round of MW tournament
3/8/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
There's no telling what was more shocking, an opening-round win in the Mountain West Men's Championship by a No. 10 seed, or the way it happened.
Air Force held No. 7 seed Wyoming scoreless over the first 9:36 to open a 25-0 lead, and cruised to an 83-68 victory Wednesday. The Cowboys fell to 1-5 in the opening round of the tournament.
"I joked with our staff and I said I would coach the first 25 points of the game and then they could take it from there. So I think we got off to a good start," Air Force coach Dave Pilipovich said. "All joking aside, we didn't have the last part of our season, for that being said, our season going the way we wanted it to. But these guys refocused and reenergized, and we had a really good session on Sunday, and Monday and Tuesday.
"For them to come out with that intensity and effort and enthusiasm to start the game, it's a credit. That's who our cadet-athletes are at the Academy, and I'm so proud of them. And we get to live for another day."
The Falcons (12-20) advance to Thursday's quarterfinal round, where they'll face No. 2 seed Colorado State.
Jacob Van led four Falcons in double figures, with 18 points, including 10 of 10 from the free throw line. Hayden Graham had 15 points and six rebounds, Lavelle Scottie added 13 points and Frank Toohey had 11 points and nine rebounds for Air Force.
"We emphasized it throughout practice Sunday and Monday and leading up to this game - defense was an emphasis for us," Graham said. "We had to jump out, talk more, communicate. We told everybody our defense would lead to our offense and that's what changed everything."
During their game-opening spree, Air Force forced seven turnovers and got balanced scoring, with six different Falcons scoring during the run.
Air Force's 25-0 run to start the game tied a Mountain West tournament record, set by Boise State against San Jose State in 2014. The Falcons' 48 first-half points were the most they scored in a tournament half, eclipsing their previous high of 40.
Air Force is the lowest seed to advance to the quarterfinals, while it marks the first Mountain West tournament win by a 10-seed in four attempts.
The Falcons won away from Colorado Springs for the first time since a Dec. 19, 2015 victory at UC Davis (67-60), snapping a streak of 23 consecutive losses away from home.
"If we had to win one game away from Clune (Arena), I'd want it to be this one because it builds momentum going into the next one," Jacob Van said. "And we have the confidence now, and we're not looking behind us, we're looking ahead of us."
Wyoming's 27 first-half points were its second-lowest for the first half, and third-lowest for either half this season. The Cowboys shot just 8 of 25 (32 percent) from the field over the first 20 minutes, and 22 of 54 (40.7 percent) for the game.
"I thought they came out with some tremendous excitement for the tournament, shot the ball really, really well in the first half," said Wyoming coach Allen Edwards, whose Cowboys hit 10 3's on the night, and now have 307 on the season, tying the school record for 3's in a season. "And we were forced into a situation of playing catch up for pretty much the whole game. I couldn't say we were just horrible on defense, I thought they made some tough shots, as well.
"But I thought their offense was very crisp. They got the ball moving and on defense I thought they had a tremendous edge, which affected our scoring on the offensive end."
Justin James led the Cowboys with 20 points, while Hayden Dalton recorded his 11th double-double of the season and 11th of his career, with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
