Air Force With 72-60 Setback At #22/23 Utah State

LOGAN, Utah - Air Force men's basketball (9-19, 2-14 MW) fell 72-60 at #22/23 Utah State (24-5, 12-4 MW) in Mountain West play Friday night at Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Junior guard Ethan Taylor led the Falcons with 15 points.

In the first half, Utah State went up double digits, to lead 43-30 at the break. The Aggies scored 30 points in the paint off relentless drives to the basket in the opening half.

The Falcons responded in the second half, getting the game down to single digits. The Falcons trailed by eight with 12:14 to play.

Air Force then went scoreless for seven minutes, allowing Utah State to go on an 11-0 run, to jump ahead 67-48 with 5:27 to play. Air Force closed the game out by out-scoring Utah State 12-5 the rest of the way, but the deficit was too big to overcome.

Taylor paced four Falcons in double-figures scoring with his 15 points. Taylor made three three's on the night, giving him 81 on the season. He becomes just the fourth Air Force player in program history to reach 80 three's in a season.

Sophomore Rytis Petraitis added 14 points and led the team with five rebounds and five assists. Junior Beau Becker chipped-in with 12 points and four rebounds, while knocking down a pair of three's. Junior Byron Brown was the fourth Falcon in double-figures with 11 points and tied for the team-lead with five rebounds in a career-high 39 minutes.

Guard Ian Martinez led Utah State with 21 points. Air Force held USU forward Great Osobor--the second-leading scorer in the Mountain West--to just six points. Osobor had scored 32 points in the first meeting against the Falcons.

Air Force shot 47 percent from the field and and 80 percent from the free throw line.

Air Force returns to action Tuesday, March 5 at Wyoming.

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