Air Force at BYU - 3 Things to Watch

AIR FORCE at BYU

3 THINGS TO WATCH

1. AIR FORCE’S OFFENSIVE OUTPUT
Since scoring 70 on Jan. 30 against Wyoming in their lone Mountain West Conference victory, the Falcons have averaged 48.7 points in three consecutive losses. Air Force went scoreless until the 10:14 mark of the first half in a loss at San Diego State and scored just one basket in the final 13 minutes in Tuesday’s home loss to Colorado State. The Falcons will have to be far better offensively to have a prayer of keeping pace with BYU, which is averaging a MWC-high 76.8 points in league play.

2. BYU G JIMMER FREDETTE
The first time Air Force met BYU, on Jan. 13, the 6-foot-2 Fredette played just 18 minutes off the bench, as he was recovering from an illness. No doubt Fredette has felt better lately. In his past five games he’s scored 33, 27, 36, 26 and 21 points, respectively. Fredette leads the MWC in scoring (21.4 points per game) and ranks second in assists (4.9 per game). “I’d have to definitely put him in contention for Player of the Year in the league, no doubt,” Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said.

3. AIR FORCE G MICHAEL LYONS
In the Falcons’ victory over Wyoming, Lyons scored 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting (including 3-of-5 from 3-point range) and committed just one turnover. In the three games since, Lyons – who has been battling the flu – scored 13 total points on 6-of-19 shooting (including 1-of-6 from 3-point range) and committed 11 turnovers. He needs to play like he did against the Cowboys for the Falcons to have a chance.

Quote to Note: “They have a lot of different weapons on the offensive end.” – Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds on BYU, which has four players who average 9.8 points or more and have hit 21 or more 3-pointers.

Note to Quote: Air Force has lost nine straight games against BYU, including a 67-49 defeat at Clune Arena a month ago. Four of the Falcons’ past six losses to the Cougars have come by 16 or more points.