Air Force basketball coach Dave Pilipovich optimistic about season

Note: This is the first in a series of 10 season previews of Mountain West basketball teams.

Right there at the bottom of the Mountain West standings last season with UNLV was Air Force.

Finishing at or near the bottom of the conference standings has become the norm for the Falcons, who have ended the past four seasons ninth or worse. They were picked last by the media for this season.

But coach Dave Pilipovich said he was encouraged by how Air Force ended last season, defeating Wyoming 83-68 in the conference tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center before losing 81-55 to Colorado State.

“We’re hungrier,” Pilipovich said. “We saw (with) us playing here last year in the conference tournament and said, ‘Maybe if we put that together.’ We were inconsistent last year. I think we have the ability to do those things, and I think we’ll be a different team than we were last year.”

The Falcons return three starters, including 6-foot 7-inch center Frank Toohey, who averaged 10.7 points and 4.5 rebounds last season. Also back are senior guards Jacob Van (6-2) and Trevor Lyons (6-3). Van averaged 10.6 points and Lyons 7.4.

“We’re going to surprise some people with the depth,” Toohey said. “We’ve got a lot of guys. We’ve got some talent that I don’t think people have seen before.”

Gone are 6-5 forward Hayden Graham and 6-3 guard Zach Kocur. Graham led Air Force with 12.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, and Kocur’s 61 made 3-pointers led the team.

“We’ve got some fight to us, we really do, and we’ve been very competitive in our workouts,” Pilipovich said. “I think that will transform over when we start playing games. I definitely see that. Our depth is good, it’s really good.”

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.