Air Force Downed By Utah State

USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – Air Force men's basketball (9-7, 0-3 MW) fell, 77-65, to Utah State (13-2, 2-0 MW) Tuesday night at Clune Arena. Sophomore guard Jake Heidbreder led the Falcons with 19 points and sophomore guard Ethan Taylor added 14.

As has been the case so far in conference play, another slow start had the Falcons fighting to get back into the game late.

Utah State jumped out to a 44-28 halftime lead. With the Falcons taking away the three-point shot, the Aggies went inside with a 32-12 advantage in points in the paint. Utah State shot 63.3 percent and out-rebounded the Falcons 22-7 in the first half.

After falling behind by as many as 21, the Falcons fought back in the second half, cutting the deficit to single digits. A three by Ethan Taylor with 10:36 to play cut the Utah State lead to seven, as the Falcons fought back to make it a 56-49 game.

After Utah State went back up double-digits, another Taylor three got the Falcons to within seven with 48 seconds left to play at 72-65. The Aggies made their last six free throws to close out the game.

Air Force improved its defense significantly in the second half, holding the Aggies to 30 percent shooting and out-scoring Utah State 37-33. For the game, the Falcons held one of the nations' top three-point shooting teams to just six made three's, which was nearly half of its average of 11 per game.

Heidbreder paced three Falcons in double-digits with his 19 points, with 12 coming in the second half. Taylor scored 14 points, with four coming off a three's. Taylor also tied for the team-lead with five assists. Freshman forward Rytis Petraitis added 11 points and five assists.

The Falcons shot 43 percent from the field and 35 percent from three.

Air Force returns to action Tuesday, Jan. 10 at Colorado State. Tip time is 7 pm MT and the game will be televised by Evoca and steamed on the Mountain West Network.

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Team Stats

Jake Heidbreder

Ethan Taylor

Rytis Petraitis

Beau Becker

Players Mentioned

Jake Heidbreder

Rytis Petraitis

Ethan Taylor

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