New-look Air Force still a challenge for UNLV

Air Force looks like a lot of Air Force basketball teams in many ways.

The back-door cuts are still there. The Falcons still run their offense in a deliberate manner much of the time.

But now the Falcons are so much more. They score off transition more often. They sometimes take quicker shots in the halfcourt offense.

And they’re scoring a lot more, averaging 77.5 points entering Saturday’s 3 p.m. game against UNLV at the Thomas & Mack Center. Air Force’s scoring average is up 9.1 points over last season.

“They very well push more opportunistically than they have in the past,” UNLV coach Marvin Menzies said. “They have a couple of more athletes, and Coach (Dave Pilipovich) has given them a little more freedom to be aggressive, I think. They do have a lot more freedom to score in transition, which I don’t think was their directive by the coaches in the past.”

UNLV and Air Force each is 9-10 overall and 2-4 in the Mountain West entering the game, which will be televised by Root Sports (available through premium satellite TV packages in Las Vegas). The Rebels are 4-point favorites.

Rebels forward Troy Baxter Jr., who didn’t play Tuesday against San Diego State, returned to practice Thursday and is ready to go, Menzies said.

UNLV faces a Falcons team that not only has seen an increase in its offensive scoring average, but its defensive average is up 2.0 from last season to 74.8.

That’s not a knock on Air Force’s defense. With the commitment to speeding up the offense, it’s created more scoring chances for both sides.

“I still think Dave’s doing a good job with (defense),” Menzies said. “It’s part of a give-and-take situation. If they want to score a little bit more and be a little bit more inviting to the public eye, then they’ve got to give up a little something on the other end.”

On the offensive end, Air Force still often relies on those deliberate halfcourt sets that have made the Falcons so effective.

Their starting lineup averages from 8.7 points to 12.4 points, with four players scoring in double figures. Menzies said Air Force is especially good at reacting to an opponent’s defense with an offensive counter of its own, and has the experience with two seniors and three juniors in the starting lineup to make the right decisions.

Air Force’s top six scorers each has shot at least 45 percent from the field, and three are better than 50 percent.

“I don’t think we have faced anyone that has that many guys shoot it at that level that they shoot it at in terms of field-goal percentage,” Menzies said. “They have so many guys that shoot at a high percentage that it really creates problems for you when it comes to the pace of play that they run their offense at.

“This is what they do, and they own it. It’s not like they’ve got a lot of different sets, but they have a lot of different actions within their continuity. So that poses a problem because there are multiple reads offensively for them.”

Air Force is always a difficult team for coaches to prepare for because the Falcons’ offense is unique compared to the rest of the Mountain West.

Menzies didn’t have much time to prepare for that offense, but he’s not in an unusual position.

“In a perfect world, it’s great to have more time to prepare for a team like this, but that’s for everybody,” Menzies said. “It’s not just us.”

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.