LAS VEGAS — Air Force ended a rough season in a rough way Wednesday.

The Falcons bowed out in the first round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament, losing 82-56 to No. 6 seed New Mexico. Air Force, seeded No. 11 in the conference, finishes the year 9-22 overall and 2-16 in Mountain West play.

“In the end they played really well,” Air Force coach Joe Scott said. “I know we can play better, but you have to give them credit for playing extremely well across the board.”

The Falcons ended the regular season on a four-game losing streak, but even so, there was promise. Scott noted how his team looked more competitive in those defeats, losing the last three by 12 points or fewer.

Wednesday’s first-round game was a step in the wrong direction.

The Falcons committed 11 turnovers in the first half and trailed 49-30 at halftime. They shot 21% from the field in the first 17 minutes of the second half and went 7-of-28 on 3-pointers for the game. The Lobos (22-9, 10-8) also logged 16 offensive rebounds to Air Force’s four.

“We need to learn how to mature and just be the players that we want to be and just stop those runs,” sophomore Rytis Petraitis said. “That’s something we need to get better at.”

The drubbing comes after the Falcons upset the Lobos 78-77 on Feb. 24 for only Air Force’s second conference win.

“I think we’ve shown we can compete,” junior Beau Becker said. “We had a win against them at their place. It’s unfortunate we couldn’t get that energy tonight.”

Air Force’s nine-win total is its lowest in a full season since 2001-02 (the Falcons went 5-20 in 2020, but they played a shortened nonconference schedule because of COVID-19).

The Falcons haven’t finished with a winning overall record since 2014. They haven’t posted a winning conference record since 2007.

But between the team’s youth and Air Force’s road wins against UNLV and New Mexico, the players are confident that they can become more competitive.

“We’ve played together as a team for two, three years together now, and we have that chemistry and that bond that a lot of people don’t have,” Petraitis said. “We’ve shown that we can play. It’s just we’ve got to work in the offseason, get stronger, do what we do, and eventually hopefully we’ll get back to where we are.”

Becker added, “We’ll have the same starters, same people to work with. It will be the same team, and we’ll just get more experience from that.”

Stopping opposing big men has been a consistent problem for the Falcons, and that was the case again Wednesday.

In addition to the Lobos’ 16 offensive boards, they scored 50 points in the paint. Forward JT Toppin led New Mexico with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting.

As Scott turns the page on the season, he said he’s proud of how his team improved on the interior and that it will continue to get better.

“For us it’s a five-guy type thing,” Scott said. “We have to be better inside that way. We have gotten that.”

At the Air Force Academy, players have until their junior year to transfer. That means Becker, Jeffrey Mills, Ethan Taylor, Byron Brown and Chase Beasley will all return for the 2024-25 season.

But others have a decision to make.

Petraitis, Luke Kearney, Kellan Boylan and Wesley Celichowski are among regular players who are either freshmen or sophomores. But Scott is confident he’ll be able to keep the roster intact.

“This is one of the best leagues in the country,” the coach said. “If you’re not driven by that, if you’re not fueled by that, then you know what, you can go do something else. I’m trying to compete at the highest level. It doesn’t get much higher than this league.”