Air Force's offense disappears in loss at UNLV

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Had Air Force’s second-half scoreless drought been just a little shorter, perhaps only 10 minutes, maybe the Falcons would have won at UNLV.

Air Force went 13:27 without scoring in the second half during an offensive no-show for the ages. UNLV beat Air Force 49-42 on Tuesday night at Thomas and Mack Center in a game that won’t go on the Falcons’ highlight film.

The Falcons’ football team scored 35 points here a few months ago. The basketball team didn’t hit that mark until less than 3 minutes remained. The Falcons were at a loss for words after the game. They just couldn’t hit open shots.

“We were getting the shots we wanted, and we couldn’t take the lid off the basket,” senior forward Derek Brooks said. “We couldn’t knock it down.”

In the first half, Air Force went more than 7 minutes without scoring, and followed that up with another drought of 4:17. But Michael Lyons’ 3-pointer with 2 seconds left in the first half gave Air Force a 23-22 lead at halftime.

UNLV struggled too. The Rebels shot 14-of-42 from the field, including a putrid 2-of-14 from behind the 3-point line, and had 15 turnovers. Air Force was 16-of-44 from the field, with 16 turnovers. A big difference in the game was at the free-throw line, where UNLV hit 19-of-27 attempts. Air Force had just seven attempts, hitting four.

“It was a physical game,” Falcons coach Jeff Reynolds said a few times after the game.

In the second half, Evan Washington hit a layup with 17:30 remaining, and the Falcons didn’t score again until Tom Fow hit a free throw with 4:03 remaining. Mike Fitzgerald missed a wide-open 3-pointer and Shawn Hempsey missed a layup on back-to-back possessions that could have put the Falcons ahead by nine early in the half.

A trip by Taylor Broekhuis to the free-throw line with 8:55 remaining resulted in two missed attempts. When Lyons hit a shot on the baseline with 5:16 left, he was called for charging.

Still, when Derek Brooks hit back-to-back 3-pointers, Air Force trailed just 37-36 with 2:55 remaining. But the Falcons got no closer, as the offense again stumbled down the stretch.

UNLV coach Lon Kruger was asked after the game if it was the ugliest game he had been a part of.

“It would rank right there in the top three,” Kruger said. “And the top two don’t come to mind.”