Air Force men's basketball faces early test vs. Colorado

There are reasons to believe Air Force men’s basketball has built off the progress it made last year.

The Falcons are 3-0. Michael Lyons is averaging 17 points, Todd Fletcher has improved his overall game, Taylor Broekhuis is rebounding the ball well and a handful of the team’s freshmen have contributed right away.

Yet, nobody really knows how good Air Force is. Wins against Army, Virginia Military Institute and Western State were fine, but didn’t prove a lot.

Air Force will know more about itself after Wednesday night. Colorado comes to Clune Arena for the first meeting between the schools since 2007. The game should be a good gauge of where the Falcons stand early this season.

“If we can play well against them, I think we can play well against anybody in our conference,” Lyons said.

The Buffaloes almost made the NCAA Tournament last season but lost stars Alec Burks and Cory Higgins. Colorado is 2-2, with a victory against Fort Lewis and a five-point win against Western Michigan. The Buffaloes lost to Wichita State and a rebuilding Maryland team. Colorado is 17-3 all time against Air Force but could be vulnerable for this matchup against the Falcons, three days after finishing up a tournament in Puerto Rico.

“CU has all the athleticism, they’re a big team, they match up more like they would against all our conference opponents,” Fletcher said. “They’re a complete team. It’ll be nice to see how we compare to them on the court.”

The Falcons haven’t played anyone as good as Colorado yet, but they have done their part. They’ve won their three games by 16, 10 and 28 points, so they have handled inferior competition. Reynolds said he is happy with the effort, the defensive execution and improved rebounding, and hopes that the inconsistent 3-point shooting will improve. Reynolds is pleased with what he has seen so far from his team overall, but said the Falcons will need to play their best game to beat Colorado.

“I think we’ll be anxious to play the game and see how we stack up,” Reynolds said.

This is a game that has been in the works for a while, and it is the first of a four-year contract between the schools. Next year’s game will be in Boulder. Air Force doesn’t draw a majority of its players from within the state and the Falcons haven’t played Colorado in a while, so there isn’t the built-in rivalry between the teams yet. That could grow.

“I haven’t thought about it as a rivalry because I’ve never played CU,” Fletcher said. “But I’d like for this to be the start of it, and I’d like to start it out with a win.”