AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) --Air Force (18-11, 9-5 Mountain West) wrapped
up the third seed in next week's conference tournament in Denver, using a
stifling defense to overcome a poor second half offensively.
The Falcons finished with the second-most wins in team history -- they had 22
last season -- but will likely need to win the conference tournament to make it
two straight trips to the NCAA tournament after 42 years of staying home.
Wyoming (15-12, 7-7) had a miserable first half offensively and was only
marginally better in the second to lose for the third time in four games.
Even with their struggles, the Cowboys stayed with Air Force, cutting the
lead to 56-53 on Dion Sherrill's 3-pointer with 28 seconds left. Hood hit just
1-of-2 free throws at the other end, but Jacob Burtschi snared the rebound on
the second and McCraw hit four straight from the line to seal it.
Wyoming will be the fourth or fifth seed in the conference tournament,
depending on the winner of Saturday night's game between Brigham Young and
Nevada-Las Vegas.
Air Force finished with the nation's best scoring defense for the third
straight season and showed how it got there against Wyoming.
Forcing tough shots off the dribble, cutting off drives to the basket and
creating difficult passing angles to the post, the Falcons held the Cowboys to
36 percent shooting and forced 17 turnovers.
Relegated to playing one-on-one offensively, Wyoming had scoreless streaks of
5:19 and 4:57 in the first half to finish with just 19 points, and had three
assists on 18 field goals overall.
Air Force was particularly effective against Jay Straight, holding Wyoming's
leading scorer to 5-of-18 shooting and forcing him into seven turnovers. The
Falcons did it by preventing Straight from beating them off the dribble,
knocking him around when he did get in the lane and shutting down his crossover
dribble.
Frustrated with hitting the floor nearly a dozen times, Straight kept trying
to force his way into the lane in the second half without much success. He
finished with 12 points -- well below his 18.4 average -- and just one assist.
It's a good thing Air Force's defense was playing so well because the offense
wasn't exactly lighting it up.
The Falcons worked the ball around with their usual efficiency in the first
half, hitting 12-of-24 shots to take a nine-point lead, then started to get
sloppy in the second after Wyoming extended its defense.
Forcing passes and making bad decisions, the Falcons had just one field goal
in nearly eight minutes midway through and had five turnovers in seven
possessions to allow the Cowboys cut the lead to 36-30.
Air Force shot just 8-of-20 in the second half, but seemed to have an answer
every time Wyoming made a run.