AFA men's hoops: Falcons' MWC losing streak continues with loss at CSU
FORT COLLINS - Each of Air Force's first two games in conference play has followed a similar pattern. Unfortunately, that's not good news for the Falcons. And even worse for a team looking to break some losing streaks, the schedule gets tougher.
Air Force dropped its second straight game to start Mountain West Conference play, falling 70-48 to Colorado State at Moby Arena on Saturday night. Colorado State improved to 11-5 and 2-0 in the conference.
Air Force, which is 8-7 overall, struggled to score in the first half and trailed 26-15 at halftime. A nice run in the second half, aided by 13-of-21 shooting, ultimately didn't mean much as the Rams pulled away. Saturday's loss is Air Force's 18th straight regular-season conference loss, its 12th straight loss in true road games and its 11th straight conference road loss.
Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said he had a hard time describing how his team played. The team had three good practices this week, he said, and to come out flat against the Rams baffled him.
"I don't know how to categorize how we played," Reynolds said. "I'm a little surprised."
The poor start was very similar to conference opener. From the time the Falcons tied the game 5-5 on Derek Brooks' 3-pointer to Tom Fow's jumper with 4:44 left, Air Force scored only one basket in 15 trips down the floor. Their 15 first-half points were the fewest since at San Diego State last Feb. 7. Air Force hit 26.1 percent of its shots in the first half, the second-worst scoring half of the season. The Falcons had 10 turnovers and one assist in the first half.
"We didn't come out as hard as we should have," Fow said. "In practice we've been busting our tails and doing so well. To come out and not have that energy was the worst part."
And similar to the TCU loss, the Falcons started the second half strong. The Falcons hit four of their first six shots. The Falcons cut the lead to 6 points on Taylor Broekhuis' layup as he was fouled, although he missed the free throw.
Air Force had a chance to win at TCU until the Horned Frogs pulled away in the final two minutes, but Saturday's game was decided well before the final minutes. Air Force trailed 38-31 when the Rams went on a 20-4 run and pushed its lead to more than 20 points with less than seven minutes to go.
"I thought we were back in it and lost the momentum again," Reynolds said.
Reynolds said he was disappointed in the effort getting to loose balls, especially on offensive rebounds. He thought players tried to do too much individually on offense, which led to only six assists and 18 turnovers, and thought the poor offensive showing carried over to defense, where the Falcons allowed CSU to shoot 52.2 percent.
The Falcons have to move on quickly. They play 16-1 BYU on Wednesday.
"It was just one of those days," Fow said. "We can't have any of these days anymore."
