Air Force Eliminated By Utah State at MW Championships

LAS VEGAS, Nevada - Tenth-seeded Air Force men's basketball fell to seventh-seed Utah State (18-14), 83-56, in the opening round of the 2022 Air Force Reserve Mountain West Men's Basketball Championships Wednesday afternoon at Thomas & Mack Center. Sophomore guard Joseph Octave led the Falcons with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

Utah State shot a blistering 81 percent from the field in the second half to pull away from the Falcons. For the game, Utah State shot 54 percent from the field. Forward Brandon Horvath paced five players in double figures scoring for the Aggies, scoring 18 points and pulling down 12 rebounds.

Air Force shot the ball well in the first half, but turnovers and free throws allowed Utah State to go up 38-27 at the half. The Falcons shot 45 percent from the field, compared to 36 percent from Utah State, but trailed in the turnover battle 7-1.

The Aggies also got to the free throw line 14 times, making 11 in the first half, while the Falcons were just 1 of 2 from the line. Octave almost single handedly kept the Falcons in the game with 13 first-half points on 6 of 9 shooting.

Utah State then shot 17 of 21 from the field in the second half including 75 percent from three and the Falcons were unable to get back into the game.

Octave set career-high's in both points and rebounds for the Falcons. He became just the second Falcon in program history to notch a double-double at the Mountain West Championships. The sophomore shot 8 of 13 from the field and went 5 of 6 from the free throw line.

Joining Octave in double figures scoring was freshman guard Jake Heidbreder, with 13 points. Heidbreder finishes the season with 303 points, the most by a freshman in the Mountain West era and the second-most ever by a rookie at Air Force.

Freshman Jeffrey Mills added nine points, with a perfect 4 for 4 night from the field. Freshman Ethan Taylor dished out four assists. Taylor finished the season with 103 assists, becoming the first freshman at Air Force to surpass 100 assists in a season. Freshman Lucas Moerman had one blocked shot to finish with an Air Force freshman record 42 blocks, which is also second most in a season all-time.

Seniors AJ Walker and Abe Kinrade finished their four-year careers. Walker scored four points and pulled down four rebounds. He finishes seventh all-time in scoring at Air Force with 1,410 career points. Kinrade played in his 72nd career game.

Air Force finishes the season with an 11-18 record. The Falcons more than doubled their win total from the previous season despite having a roster with 10 freshmen, the third-youngest in the nation.

Footer

The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the u.s air force of non-u.s. government sites or the information, products, or services contained therein. Although the u.s. air force may or may not use these sites as additional distribution channels for department of defense information, it does not exercise editorial control over all of the information that you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this website.