LAS VEGAS — The 10th-seeded Air Force men’s basketball fell to 7th-seed Utah State (18-14), 83-56, in the opening round of the 2022 Air Force Reserve Mountain West Men’s Basketball Championships Wednesday afternoon at Thomas & Mack Center.
Sophomore guard Joseph Octave led the Falcons with 21 points and 10 rebounds - both were career highs.
"I would just say it was an adjustment," explained Octave, who became just the second Falcon in program history to notch a double-double at the Mountain West Championships. "Offensively, give us a chance to see the way they're guarding things. So I felt like I could exploit them driving to the rim, so that's what I did."
Utah State shot a blistering 81 percent from the field in the second half to pull away from the Falcons. For the game, Utah State shot 54 percent from the field. Forward Brandon Horvath paced five players in double figures scoring for the Aggies, scoring 18 points and pulling down 12 rebounds.
I think you have to give credit to Utah State," added head coach Joe Scott. "They played extremely well. They played really well in the second half. And I just thought over the course of the game, you know, they sort of wore us down."
Joining Octave in double figures scoring was freshman guard Jake Heidbreder, with 13 points. Heidbreder finishes the season with 303 points, the most by a freshman in the Mountain West era and the second-most ever by a rookie at Air Force.
"This was, obviously, pretty eye opening, just being a freshman and playing in general," explained Heidbreder. "I'm very blessed for that. And being in the Mountain West, too, obviously, a really good conference, especially this year. So just getting a season down and knowing what I need to work on in the summer, I think that's big for me."
Freshman Jeffrey Mills added nine points, with a perfect 4 for 4 night from the field. Freshman Ethan Taylor dished out four assists. Taylor finished the season with 103 assists, becoming the first freshman at Air Force to surpass 100 assists in a season. Freshman Lucas Moerman had one blocked shot to finish with an Air Force freshman record 42 blocks, which is also second most in a season all-time.
"There's no question that right now we need to get physically stronger, we need to grow up, we need to get, you know, that experience," said Scott. "And we -- with that, comes that mental toughness, then. And, you know, they're ahead of us in that regard right now. It's just the way it goes. We started three freshmen and sophomore, we all know that. That's the way it goes."
Seniors AJ Walker and Abe Kinrade finished their four-year careers. Walker scored four points and pulled down four rebounds. He finishes seventh all-time in scoring at Air Force with 1,410 career points. Kinrade played in his 72nd career game.
Air Force finishes the season with an 11-18 record. The Falcons more than doubled their win total from the previous season despite having a roster with 10 freshmen, the third-youngest in the nation.
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