Air Force must end energy crisis to defeat Utah

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Mar 3, 2003 | by TIM MIMICK

Pick the culprit in this Air Force men's basketball blame game: Poor passing. Inadequate screening. Dull cuts to the basket. Lack of energy. Errant shooting. As the rule goes, any offense looks good when you put the basketball in the hoop.

Coming off a 56-43 loss to Brigham Young on Saturday at Clune Arena, Air Force didn't reach 50 points for the sixth time in a dozen Mountain West Conference games.

"You can pretty much put the blame on anything," senior center Tom Bellairs said. "You can put it on the offense, the players, whatever. We just got to make it happen."

Unless it happens tonight at home against No. 22 Utah, Air Force coach Joe Scott will see his team sink to its fifth straight loss and probably a first-round match-up against Utah in the Mountain West Conference Tournament next week in Las Vegas.

Utah will be steaming after Saturday's 76-69 loss to New Mexico, during which the Lobos got to the line 53 times. To win, the Falcons must match - or exceed - the intensity of the Utes.

"I told my team that after watching film (from the BYU game Saturday), I saw only three or four times where we made plays with some excitement," Scott said. "I'm not saying running a play in our offense. I used an an example the (BYU) fast break that A.J. (Kuhle) stopped when he ran down the court and tipped the ball to (Joel) Gerlach.

"Another time, Gerlach tipped the ball and it went around the rim and came out. He tipped it again and it came out, but (Antoine) Hood got the rebound. There was excitement in the building. And when (Nick) Welch tipped the ball out on an offensive rebound, Gerlach grabbed it and (BYU's Travis) Hansen plowed into him. None of those has anything to do with our offense, or our defense. Those are just basketball plays. If I can remember only three or four of them, then we're not putting enough energy into this building."

His disappointment over the loss Saturday could be displayed in some offensive numbers. Air Force made 14 turnovers and assisted on only eight field goals, although that latter total wasn't higher because the Falcons sank only 14 shots from the field.

Air Force has 137 assists and 137 turnovers in Mountain West games. During the non-conference schedule, Air Force had 47 more assists than turnovers. Of course, Air Force shot a much higher percentage, leading to more assists.

"I don't think there was one time," Scott said, "when the BYU players said, 'Boy, those Air Force guys are hard to guard.' "

The Falcons won't lack for confidence tonight. They held a 33-31 lead with 41/2 minutes remaining at Utah on Feb. 1. The Falcons didn't score again until 10 seconds remained for a 45-35 setback.

Another boost will come because Bellairs will play after sitting out the second half Saturday with a bruised hip. He wasn't able to run full-speed Sunday in practice, but he ran a little bit.

"I got rammed into, but I don't know why it hurts more this time," Bellairs said. "I've been getting rammed into for four years and it never hurt like this."

UTAH MEN AT AFA

WHEN: 7:05 p.m. today at Clune Arena

RADIO: KVOR-AM (740), pre-game show at 6:30 p.m.

RECORDS: Air Force has lost four games in a row to fall to 11-14 overall and last place in the Mountain West Conference at 2-10. Utah is 21-5 and 9-2 for first in the league.

NOTES: Utah leads the series against Air Force 38-7 with three consecutive wins. . . . Air Force junior starting forward A.J. Kuhle has six rebounds in the past five games while playing 168 minutes. He had a career-high eight on Jan. 25 against UNLV. The 6-foot-4 Kuhle is second on the team with a 2.8-rebound average. . . . Marc Jackson hasn't started a game for Utah this season, but he's the Utes' top scorer in league games at 14.9 points and getting mentioned for Mountain West player of the year.