Air Force falls to Wyoming in MWC tournament

  • Published
  • By Maj Brett Ashworth
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFNEWS) --  The third time was a charm for the Wyoming Cowboys, as they made up for two regular-season losses to Air Force by beating them March 8 in the Mountain West Conference tournament 67-62.

The loss dropped the Falcons all-time MWC tournament record to 0-8 and puts their NCAA tournament prospects in doubt.

"You're not going to win big games if you don't shoot free throws well, you miss open shots, and don't rebound the basketball," Coach Jeff Bzdelik said in summarizing how the Falcons lost.

Things started ominously for Air Force as Wyoming controlled the opening tip and scored the contest's first points on a thunderous alley-oop dunk by Joseph Taylor. 

Wyoming used this momentum to build an 8-0 lead before Air Force finally got on the board with 15:32 left when Andrew Henke came off the bench to score and was fouled, resulting in a three-point play. 

The Falcons came storming back to take their first lead of the game at 21-20 with just over four minutes left in the first half as Henke provided a spark on both ends of the court. But Wyoming closed the half by scoring eight of the final 12 points to take a 28-25 halftime lead on the strong play of backcourt mates Brad Jones and Brandon Ewing.

Wyoming built a seven-point lead with 14:33 left in the game, but Air Force battled back to cut the lead to one point with 6:49 left in the game. However, the Falcons could not capitalize on several chances to tie or take the lead in the last six minutes. 

A Falcon hallmark, free throw shooting, was their undoing late in the game. They shot 54% from the line in the second half and 56% for the game. This from the conference's leading free throw shooting team at 77% for the season.

"I think it was the biggest difference," said Falcon senior Jacob Burtschi of the free-throw shooting woes. "If you don't make free throws, you don't win games. And that's the way it went."

Three-point shooting also doomed the Falcons as they hit only six of eighteen long-range shots for a 33% clip.

"I think we actually had about three wide-open threes, and we didn't make them," said Bzdelik.

Jones led all scorers with 29 points while also chipping in five rebounds and four assists. Ewing finished with 19 points.

Henke led the Falcons with a career-high 16 points, followed by Burtschi with 15 points and nine rebounds. Tim Anderson tallied 13 points and three assists. The Falcons set an MWC Tournament, and school record, with just three turnovers in the game.

After starting the season 17-1, the Falcons closed the season 6-7. Now it is a matter of waiting for Sunday's announcement on whether there will be March Madness at the Academy.

"I think we've shown we can hang with almost anybody," Burtschi said. "Our RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) is still great, our strength of schedule is a lot better than what it was last year (when Air Force made the NCAA Tournament). We had a chance to take it out of the (selection) committee's hands and do it ourselves. Now we're back in the same place we were last year. It's up to the committee."

"You know what, I'm not going to make a case," Bzdelik said when asked to make a case for a tournament bid. "The only thing that matters is what the committee decides. We put ourselves in this position. We're at their mercy."

NCAA Tournament bids are announced Sunday afternoon following the conference tournaments around the country.