Struggling Air Force may be in for it's toughest conference season in years
Air Force isn't exactly surfing into Mountain West Conference play on a wave of momentum.
The Falcons (9-4) face San Diego State (10-3) at 7 p.m. today at Clune Arena in their league opener having lost two of three games. They squandered an 11-point, second-half lead and lost to Portland 43-42 a week ago in the first round of the Golden Bear Classic at California. On Wednesday, they fell at home to Stony Brook 67-64. It was only their third loss in 43 games against nonconference opponents at Clune Arena since the start of the 2003-04 season.
But coach Jeff Reynolds said Friday his team is "still pretty confident."
"We're not down and thinking, ‘Woe is me,' because if you'd have told me we had a chance to be 10-3 or 9-4 at this point in the season, I'd have taken it," Reynolds said.
Senior guard/forward Andrew Henke added that the last week has done nothing to change his opinion that the Falcons should be competitive in the MWC.
"I'm still just as confident," he said. "It's just going to take a lot of hard work, as usual. We just have to go out there and get at it."
Henke agreed that the team's situation is "a little bit" similar to a few situations last season - such as when the Falcons lost four straight nonconference games and when they were blown out by Utah in the conference opener. Both times, the sky seemed to be falling. It wasn't.
"Sometimes you get caught and have bad weeks, and good teams find ways to fight back from that kind of stuff," Henke said. "We did that last year on a couple occasions, and we're looking forward to doing that Saturday and continuing into conference."
Air Force, however, likely is staring at what could be its most difficult conference season since the program's renaissance began under Joe Scott in the 2003-04 season.
For one, the league is as strong as it ever has been, according to coaches. Two-time defending regular season champion BYU is 11-1, with its lone loss coming by one point against Arizona State in Phoenix. Two-time defending MWC Tournament champion UNLV is 12-2 and just upset No. 18 Louisville on the road without its best player. And San Diego State is loaded - according to Reynolds, the Aztecs "pound-for-pound" have the most talent in the league.
"I think when you look at the depth of the league and the number of returning starters and seniors that played significant roles for their teams, I think it's going to be as good a league as it's been since I've been here," said Reynolds, who is in his second season as head coach after spending two as an assistant to Jeff Bzdelik.
That means the Falcons' level of competition will increase dramatically starting tonight.
While Air Force finished its nonconference slate better than last year's 8-5 mark, two of the nine victories came against Division II programs (Western State and the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs). The other seven came against schools that had a combined record of 21-67 as of Thursday. Air Force was 0-4 against teams that had .500 or better records heading into Friday.
Air Force's Ratings Percentage Index (a mathematical equation that determines strength of schedule) is ranked 252nd in the country (as of Dec. 30). The other eight MWC teams have rankings between 39 (Utah) and 158 (Wyoming).
The key for the Falcons, Reynolds said, is improving defensive rebounding - opponents are getting far too many second chances - and becoming more consistent offensively.
Etc.
Freshman Sammy Schafer, a 6-foot-10 center, will not play tonight because of a concussion, Reynolds said. Schafer played a career-high 10 minutes in the Dec. 28 victory over Dartmouth.
TODAY
San Diego State at Air Force, 7 p.m., 740 AM
