UNLV no match for motivated Air Force in 79-74 loss

By Taylor Bern

Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016 | 11 p.m.

UNLV squandered its lead right before halftime, and from that point on at Air Force it was clear that every little battle was going to matter. And when it came time to fight, the Rebels lost far more than they won.

The Falcons aren’t in the Rebels’ stratosphere athletically, something that was on display a month ago in UNLV’s 36-point victory, but they’re good at fighting for every little thing. Loose balls, rebounds, position on the floor; the Falcons do what they can to make you earn it, and tonight the Rebels didn’t do that.

For example: With nine minutes remaining, both of UNLV’s big men, sophomore Dwayne Morgan and freshman Derrick Jones Jr., sat on the bench with four fouls. That made each possession even more important, so when walk-on freshman Austin Starr took the ball away right after an Air Force rebound it should’ve been a minor victory.

That thought was quickly tossed aside by senior Jerome Seagears, who took Starr’s pass and passed up a three-on-one advantage to hoist up an off-target mid-range jumper. For that and so many other reasons, UNLV (15-12, 6-8) has its worst loss of the season (so far) with a 79-74 defeat in front of a crowd of 1,445 at Clune Arena.

“That’s why we won the game today … we out-fought them,” said Air Force coach Dave Pilipovich. “Our execution, at times, wasn’t great, but if you watched the game, which team was tougher? Which team had more heart?”

The answer, as it has often been in this matchup, is Air Force.

The Falcons (13-14, 4-10) have won three of the last four against UNLV at Clune Arena and the Rebels needed overtime to win the year before that. Throw in a 75-68 Air Force victory at the Thomas & Mack Center in 2014 and the Falcons have now defeated the Rebels at least once four straight years.

This one contained its own unique set of circumstances, including an especially fired up Pilipovich, but for the most part the Rebels lost here for the same reasons they often lose here.

“We dug ourselves a hole with some of their issues rearing their ugly head, in terms of turning the ball over being careless with it, a couple too many empty possessions and missing timely free throws,” said UNLV interim coach Todd Simon.

Those things, plus a revolving door defense. And it wasn’t just getting beat by backdoor cuts, though that was the reason Simon cited for freshman Jalen Poyser, who had 15 points, seven rebounds and four turnovers, sitting the final 5:09 of the game.

“Against their stuff we like the look of a more veteran presence out there,” Simon said.

The veterans were present but often unaccounted for on defense, where lanes were open all night. Air Force scored 32 points in the paint and earned many of their 29 free throw attempts by attacking the rim.

With just more than a minute to play and UNLV down two, Air Force’s Zach Kocur faced UNLV’s Ike Nwamu in a one-on-one situation. Nwamu was lined up basically begging Kocur to drive left and that’s exactly what Kocur did, meeting little resistance on his way to the rim.

That was one of many examples of the rough night for Nwamu, who shot 3-of-11 and picked up a first-half technical that helped Air Force take the lead. On a drive, Nwamu thought he should have been fouled and expressed so colorfully to referee Dave Hall. That earned Air Force a pair of free throws plus the ball, and it sparked a 14-4 Falcons run into halftime.

“They have a little bit of an us vs. the world mentality, but I think sometimes they focus that on maybe every single call,” Simon said. “… Obviously that’s in our heads at times and it’s a constant thing that we’re working on.”

Oftentimes, UNLV was more concerned with the fouls they weren’t getting than just getting back and actually playing defense. That’s not a new thing but it caught up to them tonight, because the Rebels’ limited roster amplifies each mistake.

And if you think Pilipovich cared that UNLV dressed only nine players, his exuberant postgame celebration told you otherwise. This is probably the worst roster Pilipovich has had since taking over in 2012 (and he’s down starters Trevor Lyons and Ryan Manning) but he’s done everything he can with them, and UNLV piling it on at the Mack with starters still on the floor has been on his mind for a month.

“Every dog has his day. I’ve been in this business for 30 years. I didn’t forget, our team didn’t forget,” Pilipovich said. “They’ve got two guys out, but we’ve got two guys out. Our guys fought … I think every loose ball, we got it.”

Air Force’s Jacob Van scored more on Saturday against San Diego State (17) than he had in the previous 12 Mountain West games, and he bested that against UNLV with a new career high of 21 points. Kocur finished with 18 and C.J. Siples scored 17 with six assists and what Pilipovich called the play of the game when Siples swooped in and blocked Morgan with just more than two minutes remaining.

That was one of many plays that Air Force made UNLV earn. For much of the night, the Rebels simply weren’t up to the task.

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.