Turnovers, interior baskets doom Air Force in 85-66 loss to New Mexico

By Carson Field January 20, 2024 | updated 3 years ago

Air Force's Rytis Petraitis tries to block New Mexico's Mustapha Amzil on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024.

Air Force came out to Saturday’s game jogging, but New Mexico came out sprinting.

After the Falcons started the game hot and led early, the Lobos ran away from them and won 85-66. The loss is the eighth in a row for Air Force (7-10 overall, 0-5 Mountain West).

By the first media timeout, Air Force looked comfortable. The Falcons held a 7-4 lead, thanks to well-spread offense and a three from Beau Becker.

But after that, Air Force’s offense faded. New Mexico went on a 13-0 run in the middle of the first half and took control of the game.

A trio of excellent guards — Jaelen House, Jamal Mashburn Jr. and Donovan Dent — headline UNM’s squad. Those three wreaked havoc on Air Force’s offense, as the Lobos forced 11 turnovers in the first half.

“Coach told us all week that they go for steals and that’s what they want,” sophomore forward Rytis Petraitis said. “Sometimes we don’t think before we pass. It’s just mental mistakes that we have to fix.”

While House, Mashburn Jr. and Dent stymied Air Force’s offense for much of the game, the Falcons did fairly well guarding them. Each of the three entered Saturday’s game averaging more than 15 points, but the Falcons held all of them below that.

The Falcons’ defense struggled more down low. They are undersized, and as a result, UNM’s big men had a field day.

6-foot-9 forward JT Toppin logged a game-high 25 points on 12-of-15 shooting. Fellow forward Mustapha Amzil scored 11 points despite averaging only 5.6 per game.

“It makes it hard, but we have to figure out how to get around that,” Petraitis said. “Every team in the league has a big guy like that. With Utah State and this game, we couldn’t get the rebound, and that was our biggest problem.”

Air Force’s offense was more crisp in the second half, as the Falcons outscored UNM 42-41. But the Lobos’ first-half advantage was far too great and the Falcons lost by double digits for only the third time of the season.

“I thought we played better in the second half,” Air Force coach Joe Scott said. “We have to shrink stuff down so we can know how to keep improving.”

Junior Beau Becker led Air Force with 23 points, while Petraitis scored 18. They were the only Falcons in double figures.

Saturday’s game was Air Force’s highest attendance of the 2023-24 season with 2,785 fans at Clune Arena. It was about a 50-50 split between Air Force and UNM fans, as many Lobo supporters made the trip from Albuquerque.

Either way, it was an atmosphere Air Force’s players enjoyed.

“It makes it so much more fun to play,” Petraitis said. “I wish we could get that every time.”

New Mexico (16-3) won its first road Mountain West game of the season, improving to 4-2 in league play. The Lobos have won three games in a row, defeating ranked San Diego State and Utah State squads before Saturday.

Air Force is the Mountain West’s only team that has yet to win a conference game. And Fresno State and San Jose State are the conference’s only two teams with just one win.

The Falcons were within reach of victory in conference losses to Nevada, San Jose State and Colorado State. As they look to escape from the cellar, Air Force’s players hope to forget about Saturday’s lopsided loss and learn how to take care of close games.

“I really feel like we should be 2-3 in conference,” Petraitis said. “We had the game in the last minute against Colorado State and San Jose (State). These games, we just got outworked.”

As for Scott, he’s willing to do just about anything to get his team out of its slump.

“It’s open season for guys off the bench,” Scott said. “If nobody does it, then I still have to find five guys.”

Air Force’s Rytis Petraitis tries to block New Mexico’s Mustapha Amzil on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024.