Air Force With Program-Best 90-58 Win Over UNLV; Petraitis Notches Triple-Double

LAS VEGAS, Nevada - It was a historic night for Air Force men's basketball (8-10, 1-5 MW) in a 90-58 blowout win over UNLV (9-9, 2-4) MW in Mountain West play Tuesday night at Thomas & Mack Center. Sophomore forward Rytis Petraitis highlighted the night with a triple-double.

Petraitis had a game for the ages with 18 points and career-high's of 13 rebounds and 11 assists. He became the second player in program history to notch a triple-double, joining teammate Ethan Taylor, who accomplished the feat in 2021. Petraitis was 7-of-11 from the field, 2-for-3 from three. He also added two steals and three blocked shots.

The 32-point win was the biggest in program history over the Runnin' Rebels. The win snapped a 14-game losing streak to UNLV at Thomas & Mack, dating back to 2014. Air Force also picked up its first Mountain West win of the season.

From the get go, Air Force played like a team on a mission. After surrendering the first bucket of the game, the Falcons took control of the game with an 8-0 run, keyed by three's by Beau Becker and Ethan Taylor. Following UNLV's second bucket, Air Force ripped off a 9-0 run on back-to-back three's by Becker and another three by Taylor to go up 17-4 seven minutes in.

Air Force got up by as many as 23 points in the first-half, when leading 33-10 at the 5:36 mark. UNLV responded with an 14-6 run to close out the half and pulled to within 15 at the break at 39-24. Air Force held UNLV to 32 percent shooting in the opening half, including 24 percent from three.

The Falcons kept the foot on the gas pedal in the second half, out-scoring the Rebels 51-34 in the second half on 60 percent shooting.

UNLV got to within 14 points three minutes into the second half. That would be as close as it got, as the Falcons followed with a 12-0 run to go up 26 at 57-31 with 13:31 to play. The Falcons led by as many as 36 in the second half.

For the game, Air Force shot 55 percent from the field and 50 percent from three. The Falcons' 90 points was a season high and its 14 three's was one shy of a season high.

Five Falcons reached double-figures in scoring, led by Taylor's 22 points. Taylor connected on four three's, adding five rebounds.

Becker scored 14 points, shooting 5-of-7 from the field and 4-of-6 from three. Becker was limited to 19 minutes due to foul trouble. In his place, freshman Luke Kearney picked up where Becker led off, erupting for a career-high 16 points, while making four three's. Jeffrey Mills was the fifth Falcon in double figures with 11 points, while dishing out a game-high four assists.

Air Force held UNLV to 32 percent shooting on the night and 18 percent from three. Justin Webster led the Rebels with 14 points before exiting the game with an injury in the second half.

Air Force returns to action Saturday, Jan. 27, at Fresno State. The game tips at 4 pm PT.

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