Air Force's Zach Bohannon puts up a shot during the first half of Air Force's 91-48 loss to BYU on Saturday in Provo, Utah. (AP Photo/The Daily Herald,James Roh)
Bad weekend for the academy basketball teams.
Navy’s three-game winning streak ended. Army lost for the fifth time in six games. And Air Force lost in a historic 43-point blowout.
Let’s look at the “Oh No in Provo” first: Air Force’s 91-48 loss to BYU was the Falcons’ worst-ever loss in a conference game. It’s the third-worst loss in the program’s history.
After a respectable start to the season, the wheels have been coming off for the Falcons in Mountain West Conference play, where they’re 1-10 so far (after going winless in the MWC last year). Air Force’s offense averaged less than 50 points per game in the three losses prior to Saturday, and in Provo yesterday, No. 17 BYU pounced all over the Falcons. BYU shot 56 percent overall and 60 percent from behind the 3-point line, while the Falcons once again could not break 50.
The only bit of good news is that Air Force gets a week off before its next game. Unfortunately that next game is a trip to 15th-ranked New Mexico on Saturday. New Mexico won the first matchup in Colorado Springs by 23 points.
Navy’s streak ends
Lafayette brought Navy back down to earth Saturday with an 83-77 win over the Midshipmen in Easton, Pa. The loss ended Navy’s winning streak as well as the team’s short stay in first place in the Patriot League.
Navy’s offense continued to put points on the board; however, leading scorer Chris Harris got into foul trouble and played only 25 minutes. He still managed 25 points, but the Mids struggled with him on the bench for a decent amount of the second half. Sophomore forward Jordan Sugars added 21 points and junior guard O.J. Ovworo finished with 17, which tied a career high.
Army gasping toward the finish line
Yesterday’s 78-66 loss to Lehigh means the Black Knights are in serious jeopardy of blowing a golden opportunity to finish above .500 for the first time since 1985. The Black Knights have lost five of their last six and are now 13-11 overall with four games left to play. Army can guarantee a winning record by splitting those two games. Otherwise, they’ll need to do something in the Patriot League tournament, which hasn’t exactly been the program’s strong suit in the past.
