Second-half charge leads No. 18 BYU over Air Force

Mike Fitzgerald’s 3-pointer in the final seconds of the first half, with the shot clock almost expired, was a thing of beauty. Quick release, good form, nothing but net, and it improbably pulled the Falcons to within two points of 18th-ranked BYU.

That shot should have given the Falcons momentum into halftime.

Then BYU’s Jonathan Tavernari rushed up court and pulled up to hit a long 3 at the buzzer. All Air Force had to show for a very competitive half was a five-point deficit.

That shot took the wind out of the Falcons. Air Force’s offense disappeared in the second half, as the Falcons missed 19 of their first 21 shots after halftime in a 67-49 loss at Clune Arena.

The Falcons fell to 8-8 and 0-3 in the Mountain West. BYU improved to 17-1 and 2-0 in the conference.

Tavernari’s shot was mentally draining for the Falcons.

“It was real demoralizing,” forward Tom Fow said. “You work hard, we had the lead to about two, and that 3 pushed it out that much further.”

The Falcons stayed in the game in the first half with some good 3-point shooting. They hit 6-of-14 3-point attempts. BYU switched to a zone defense, and the Falcons couldn’t hit a shot.

Air Force missed 9-of-10 to start the second half, including all six 3-point attempts. A 15-2 run by BYU turned a game that was competitive for a half into a rout.

“The ball just didn’t go down,” Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said. “We had a lot of open looks, had a lot of layups, then we lost our confidence on the offensive end.”

For a team that played without four regulars and had to fill in with many young players, the first half is something to build on.

“I think so, definitely,” Fow said. “We came out and we played hard, we busted our tails. We tried to do our best to defend them because they’re a great ball team, and it was tough, but we battled well in the first half.”

Air Force’s next challenge is playing well without any lulls, which has happened in all three of its conference games.

“That’s what we talked to them about, and say ‘You played 28 minutes tonight of really good basketball against a really good team, and that’s not good enough,” Reynolds said.