AFA tries to not get whacked

Air Force played by far its best Mountain West Conference men's basketball game of the season Saturday against TCU.

But as heartening as that was, the Falcons lost for the fourth time in as many league contests and sixth time in seven games.

Tonight at 8 at Colorado State's Moby Arena, Air Force will attempt to avoid its first 0-5 start in league play since the 1997-98 season, when it played in the Western Athletic Conference. And perhaps get the confidence boost that only winning can provide.

"I think in a way (the TCU game) was a confidence booster for us just because we played a lot better," junior forward/center Grant Parker said. "But at the same time we can only take so many more of those. So getting a win here would be huge and really remind us that, hey, we can win in this conference."

"Any time that you're winning it's a confidence builder," senior guard Anwar Johnson said. "Just knowing that you're doing things right. I just think we're closer than we were to start the conference. It's just something we have to continue to fight through and battle through."

The Falcons will face a Colorado State team that recently enjoyed the kind of cathartic triumph for which they are searching.

The Rams had not won a regular-season MWC game since the 2006-07 campaign - a stretch of 19 games that included an 0-16 record in league play last season. But on Jan. 13 they knocked off preseason conference favorite UNLV 71-69. Even though the Rams lost their next game - at Utah on Saturday - sophomore guard Adam Nigon and Rams coach Tim Miles both said they noticed a difference in the team's play.

"I thought that (the victory over UNLV) certainly had an effect going into Utah," Miles said. "I thought when we competed at Utah, we actually competed fairly well, and so hopefully there was some confidence there. ... And hopefully our guys realize the effort that it takes because we've been kind of sometimes with our effort. We play hard when the ball's going into the hole, but with a little bit of adversity we kind of shut down. At least against UNLV and Utah that wasn't the case so much."

Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said Monday he's had no problems with his team's effort and energy but it just has to execute better - especially late in games.

"The energy's there," he said. "It's not the lack of energy, it's not that we've given up or anything like that. It's just that we have a very small margin of error, and we have to be on all cylinders. And if we're like that, then we have a chance to compete with anybody in the league."

NOTE 

Whether Parker will make his second career start at center is uncertain. Reynolds called it a "game-time" decision.

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Contact the Writer: 636-0365 or jake.schaller@gazette.com. Check out our Air Force blog at gazetteafasports.freedomblogging.com

TODAY

Air Force at CSU, 8 p.m., The mtn., 740 AM