Air Force hoops hopes to build shooters' confidence

In last Saturday’s loss to Northern Colorado, the Air Force men’s basketball team struggled through a nightmare of a shooting performance — missing 29 of its 43 shots, including all 17 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Was it a one-night occurrence — like an isolated bad dream brought on by some late-night pizza — or the first of recurring nightmares that will haunt the Falcons throughout the season?

“I sure hope it’s one night,” said Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds, whose team plays host to Charleston Southern of the Big South Conference Saturday night at 7. “Because not all of our shots were rushed, and I don’t know that any were greatly contested.”

Reynolds was happy with the Falcons’ shooting in the preseason. But games are different — especially when the first few shots don’t fall.

“I think it became a little bit of a confidence thing for us,” Reynolds said of the poor shooting against Northern Colorado. “And confidence is a fragile thing.”

Especially for a team that lacks experienced scorers.

Heading into the season, only junior guard Evan Washington and senior forward Grant Parker had made more than 10 career 3-pointers. And neither Washington nor Parker had attempted more than five 3s in a game before this season.

Reynolds said the poor shooting against Northern Colorado affected more than his team’s scoring.

“Sometimes when you have a young team and don’t do things like you’re capable of on the offensive end and like you have done on the offensive end, then on the defensive end you quit defending,” he said. “And that makes it worse.”

Senior guard Avery Merriex said the Falcons need to exert maximum effort on defense no matter if shots are falling or not because “that’s the one thing we can keep constant,” he said.

Something they won’t keep constant, according to senior forward Mike McLain, is the poor shooting.

“We’re not going to shoot 0-for-17 again,” McLain said. “I’m not really sure why that was, but that’s not going to happen again.”

3 THINGS TO WATCH

1. AIR FORCE’S PERIMETER SHOOTING
The Falcons’ best teams in recent years have thrived from behind the 3-point arc. But Air Force mostly has struggled in its first three games this season, making just 13-of-54 (24.1 percent), including none in 17 attempts in last weekend’s loss to Northern Colorado in the Reggie Minton Classic final. That snapped a streak of 513 consecutive games in which Air Force had made at least one 3-pointer.

2. CHARLESTON SOUTHERN’S JAMARCO WARREN
The 5-foot-11 point guard scored 17.8 points per game last season and is the leading returning scorer in the Big South Conference. Warren “could play anywhere in the country,” Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said. “He’s a little guy, but he really knows how to play. And he could present us major problems because he’s a jet. He’s crafty, he knows how to play, he can really shoot it well from long range, and he can take you off the bounce.”

3. FALCONS AGAINST PRESSURE
Shooting wasn’t the only problem against Northern Colorado. The Falcons committed 17 turnovers and had just seven assists. Air Force will have to do better against a Charleston Southern team that has forced an average of 15.5 turnovers in its first four games (but also has committed an average of 17.0).

Quote to Note: “They may be better than Northern Colorado, based on what I saw on tape.” –Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds on Charleston Southern, which is 3-1 with its lone loss to Maryland.

Note to Quote: Air Force has lost 10 consecutive games at Clune Arena to Division I opponents. The last time the Falcons beat a Division I opponent at home was on Dec. 22, 2008, when they defeated Texas Southern, 65-41.