Falcons have no shot at upset with their shots

SAN DIEGO • During games, Air Force’s coaches keep a sheet on the bench to chart whether the team’s 3-point shots are contested or not.

The Falcons noticed the misses piling up, and kept looking at the sheet. They went an astonishing 1-of-18 from behind the 3-point line. And they looked at the sheet, and saw that 12 of the shots were uncontested.

The Falcons had a great chance for a huge upset against 16th ranked San Diego State, but fell 57-44 at Viejas Arena mostly because of untimely mistakes and an uncharacteristically bad shooting night. Air Force hasn’t shot that poorly on 3-point shots since November of 2009.

“You’ve got to make shots,” coach Jeff Reynolds said. “I thought the pressure bothered us a little bit, but what really hurt us tonight was not making practiced shots.” 

Air Force played at a slow pace most of the night, trying to keep the Aztecs from running. But from the early moments, it was clear the Falcons were ice cold from outside.

Air Force missed all 10 of its 3-point shots in the first half — only the second time this season the Falcons didn’t hit a 3-pointer in a half. Guard Michael Lyons, who led the Mountain West in scoring before he suffered a high ankle sprain last month, had a particularly tough night. Lyons, in his second game back from the injury, had a tough time the entire game, hitting 1-of-11 shots for just four points. 

Air Force made plenty of non-shooting mistakes, too. In one stretch before halftime, the Falcons missed three layups in five possessions, and on the sixth possession guard Kamryn Williams mistakenly heaved up a 25-foot shot with five seconds left in the shot clock, barely drawing iron.

The Aztecs couldn’t put the Falcons away, and Air Force clawed its way back in the game, trailing by just five points with 10 minutes to go, but had a string of empty possessions — including three turnovers and an airball on a 3-point attempt — that halted any momentum. San Diego State, which improved to 17-2 and 3-0 in the Mountain West, pushed its lead to 13 in that stretch, putting the game out of reach. Air Force is 11-6 overall and 1-2 in the Mountain West

“You can’t go on the road in this league and shoot (1-of-18) from 3 and turn the ball over as many times as we did and expect to win games,” said Broekhuis, who led Air Force with 16 points.