Air Force moves on
Air Force picked a good time to win its second conference game of the season, cruising to a 59-40 win over Wyoming in the opening round game of the Mountain West Conference men’s basketball tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center.
The ninth-seeded Falcons went 1-15 in the regular season, but looked like the better team in dismantling No. 8 Wyoming.
Grant Parker had 15 points to lead Air Force, which jumped out to a 32-21 halftime advantage.
Michael Lyons added 11 points in the victory.
The Cowboys got back within seven points at 47-40, but Parker drove the right baseline for a layup in traffic to extend the lead back to nine.
Todd Fletcher and Parker then converted back-to-back 3-point plays to put the game out of reach.
“We pushed it out to 10 and they kind of gave up,” Parker said. “We were able to attack them the rest of the game.”
Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said the two players were pivotal in not allowing the Cowboys to complete the comeback.
“Those two guys did an outstanding job,” he said. “They were aggressive and attacked the basket and when Wyoming made their run. They were the difference.”
Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer felt his team just got too far behind against the disciplined Falcons.
“They did a nice job of hitting shots early and got a little bit of a lead on us,“ he said. “When you get down against them, it’s really hard to come back because of the way they play, but I give them a lot of credit.”
The Cowboys also hurt themselves, making just 8 of 19 from the free-throw line and 2 of 16 from beyond the arc.
“It’s not brain surgery. It’s pretty simple,” Schroyer said. “If you shoot 12 percent from the 3-point line and 42 percent from the free-throw line, you’re not going to win. It’s that simple.”
Luster out
Wyoming played without the services of point guard Jay Dee Luster, who was injured in the season-ending loss to UNLV.
Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said Luster would have played in case of emergency, but the guard could not cut on a strained groin.
“We were fortunate a bit in the sense that he wasn’t able to play,“ Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said. “I think it changed Wyoming’s game plan significantly and it opened some things we were able to be successful with.”
Reynolds said Luster’s absence was particularly damaging to Wyoming’s offensive game plan.
They weren’t able to push their transition offense quickly like they want to and we were able to attack their half-court offense.
Schroyer didn’t want to use it as an excuse.
“Anytime you don’t have one of your primary ball handlers, it obviously dictates a little bit,” he said. “But at the end of the day, they made some tough shots.”
Adam Waddell suffered a broken nose in the loss.
New Mexico next
The victory earns Air Force a second-round meeting with top-seeded New Mexico.
The Falcons actually played the Lobos very tough in Albuquerque, a game that came right down to the end.
Grant Parker said that performance will give the team confidence going into tomorrow’s quarterfinal meeting.
“We definitely know we can play with them and we showed it at their place,” he said. “It’s a lot like BYU last year when we played them close at their place and then stayed right with them in the tournament.
Freshman Todd Fletcher wasn’t on that team, but says the close game with New Mexico gave the Falcons a blueprint for tomorrow.
“We know we can play with them now as long as we can play our game. We don’t want to go up-and-down with them,” he said.
Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds cautioned that the situation is different this time around.
“I thought our kids showed great leadership and tenacity and they were able to stay in the game, but it will be a little different tomorrow,“ he said. “We had a week off to prepare for that game and (New Mexico) coach (Steve) Alford has had a week to prepare for us this time.”
Up next
The rest of the day two at the MWC tournament consists of a pair of second-round games on the women’s side.
Utah and New Mexico will be the first to take the court. Both teams are traditional powers in the league, but suffered through somewhat down years.
It is a very intriguing matchup, however. Utah has won eight of 10 games and New Mexico historically plays well in the league tournament.
The teams split a pair of regular season meetings.
San Diego State will play Wyoming in the final game of the day. The Aztecs were the preseason pick to win the league, but didn’t play up to expectations. The Cowgirls advanced by beating host UNLV last night.