Las Vegas, Nev. — Something oddly familiar lurked in the Thomas & Mack Center on Wednesday.
For the few Lobos fans who filtered into the men’s No. 9 Air force-No. 8 Wyoming game, echoes of Feb. 20th — a night Air Force nearly beat the Lobos — vibrated through the stadium.
The Falcons defeated Wyoming 59-40 in the first round of the Mountain West Conference tournament with a technique they nearly perfected during a Feb. 20th contest with the Lobos, in which UNM eked out a three-point win. The Falcons slowed the ball, and they kept their opponent from shooting.
“Our matchup zone — we have six or seven freshmen folks, and it takes a year, sometimes two years, for those guys to really grasp what we’re doing,” said Air Force head coach Jeff Reynolds. “It’s almost like the triple option in football. I think each game our players get a little better with it, sort of like seasoning.”
Air Force, the MWC bottom dweller, caused the Lobos many problems on Feb. 20, holding UNM to its second-lowest field-goal attempts (44).
And during Wednesday’s game against Wyoming — in which Cowboys also had a season-low in attempts (33) — served as a reminder that the Air Force’s defense has improved.
“We were able to make them have to attack our half-court defense,” Reynolds said. “We were fortunate to only give up three offensive rebounds. That was a real key for us today.”
Air Force has already exceeded expectations. They were ranked ninth in a nine-team field. And some oddsmakers didn’t give the Falcons a puncher’s chance to win the tournament. Las Vegas plotted the Falcons as 150-to-1 long-shots and online odds were as high as 2,500-to-1.
Though a win against No. 8 Wyoming wasn’t exactly an upset, it proves to oddsmakers that the Falcons deserve a bit more respect than 2,500-to-1 odds.
And it reminds the Lobos of late February.
“We definitely know we can play with them,” said Air Force forward Grant Parker. “We showed that at their place. This is just a great chance to come out and compete with them again. We know we can do it. It’s a lot like BYU last year. We competed with them at their place, played them really tough in the tournament. So we plan on doing that this year, except just coming out with a win.”
A 9-0 run nine minutes into the game helped push the Falcons to a 12-point first-half lead.
Wyoming, which trailed every second of the final 35 minutes, staged minor rallies, pulling to within seven late in the game.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
But it was all over when Air Force guard Todd Fletcher, drove coast-to-coast, passing by Wyoming’s big men and finishing at the basket with a foul with 3:26 left in the game.
“They got within seven. (Fletcher) drove to the hole and finished, got the And one,” Parker said. “I think right after that — that kind of put them away.”
The basket started a 12-0 run to close out the game, ending Wyoming’s season.
Wyoming guard Jaydee Luster didn’t play due to an ankle injury. And Cowboys’ center Adam Waddell broke his nose during the game, a closing symbol of Wyoming’s 10-win season.
“Isn’t that just the icing on the cake?” said Wyoming head coach Heath Schroyer.