Fresno State Rocks Air Force 76-50 Behind Balanced Scoring Attack Bulldogs are on to the semifinals after a drubbing of Air Force Contact/Follow @boettger_eli & @MWCwire Fresno State shuts down Air Force to advance in the Mountain West Tournament What a difference three weeks makes. Fresno State dismantles Air Force 76-50 in Thursday’s quarterfinal behind Deshon Taylor’s 18 points. Aguir Agau added 16 points for the Bulldogs while Nate Grimes (13 points) and New Williams (12 points) also finished in double figures. It was a completely different night than when these last two met. Fresno State was stunned at home by Air Force at home on February 20, trailing by as many as 17 in the eventual 64-61 loss. This time, it was all Bulldogs. A Christian Gray lay-up with 13:28 remaining in the first half gave Fresno a 15-13 lead and Justin Hutson’s squad never looked back. The final score, in fact, was the Bulldogs’ largest lead at 26 points. It was a complete performance by a team that figures to be a tough matchup with Utah State on Friday night. Fresno State enjoyed a complete offensive performance, knocking down 16 of its 38 three-point attempts and living off the three ball throughout the night. Air Force didn’t have an answer for the Bulldogs attack. With the win, Fresno State moves on to the semifinals where it will take on No. 2 seed Utah State. The two split the season series, with Fresno winning at Utah State 78-77 and the Aggies returning the favor with an 82-81 victory in Fresno. Eli Boettger is the lead basketball writer at Mountain West Wire. He’s covered Mountain West basketball since 2015 and his work has been featured on Bleacher Report, NBC Sports, SB Nation, Yahoo Sports, MSN, and other platforms. Boettger is a current USBWA member.<doc-sep>The Fresno State Bulldogs (20-8, 11-5) are headed to the Mountain West Tournament as the No. 3 seed, hoping to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs must win three games to make that happen, starting on Thursday in the quarterfinals. The 'Dogs will take on the No. 6 seed Air Force (14-17, 8-10) after the Falcons' 87-56 win over the No. 11 seed San Jose State Spartans on Wednesday. Matchup: (3) Fresno State vs (6) Air Force Date: Thursday, March 14 Time: 8:30 p.m. PT Location: Las Vegas, Nevada Arena: Thomas & Mack Center Broadcast: CBS Sports Network How to Watch CBS Sports network will broadcast Wednesday's game on national television. Broadcasters Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas and Evan Washburn will have the call. - CBS Sports Network is widely available through all major cable, satellite and telco distributors. For distributors with national channel lineups please find CBS Sports Network as follows: DirecTV - 221, Dish Network - 158, Verizon FiOS - 94, AT&T U-Verse - 643. For all other providers, use the CBSSN channel finder to find your channel or check your local listings. CBS Sports Network is also available with OTT providers Hulu, YouTube TV, & fuboTV. - You can authenticate via your provider and watch CBS Sports Network on http://www.cbssports.com/cbs-sports-network/ as well as on the CBS Sports App. What happened last time The Mountain West Conference has 11 men's basketball affiliates and plays an 18-game schedule, meaning that a given team will play all opponents twice (home and away) except for two opponents with only a single matchup. Fresno State and Air Force happened to be single-date opponents in the regular season. On Feb. 20, the Bulldogs were shocked at home by the Air Force Falcons in a 64-61 loss. The Falcons were the only conference team that finished below Fresno State in the standings to beat the Bulldogs on their home floor. The game was played quite evenly when looking across the box score, but the Bulldogs got an unusual goose-egg from star forward Nate Grimes. He had no points while grabbing 9 rebounds. Grimes is averaging 11.4 points per game on the year. Meanwhile, AFA was led by an exceptional performance from guard Caleb Morris with 17 points - almost 10 better than his season average. What to watch for Fresno State senior guards Deshon Taylor and Braxton Huggins come off career highs with 37 and 34 points, respectively. If they keep clicking and the Bulldogs get a better showing from Nate Grimes, they should advance to the Mountain West semifinals. Fresno State is expected to be nearly a double-digit favorite in this matchup in Las Vegas. Air Force is led by junior forwards Lavelle Scottie and Ryan Swan. Scottie averages 15.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game while Swan averages 12.8 points and 8.2 rebounds. For the inside scoop on Fresno State football, basketball and recruiting, become a BarkBoard.com VIP Subscriber today! Click here to join today and get TWO FREE months added when you buy one: https://247sports.com/college/fresno-state/UserSubscription/New/?promo=JOIN<doc-sep>LAS VEGAS – The door to the Mountain West Tournament semifinals remains locked to Air Force. But it didn’t help that the Falcons greased the door handle with 18 turnovers and Fresno State braced the backside of the door with a stack of 3-pointers 16 high. The Bulldogs topped Air Force 76-50 in the late game Thursday night at the Thomas & Mack Center, as the Falcons were turned away for the 17th time in their 17th trip to conference quarterfinals. "Their pressure was extremely on point," Air Force coach Dave Pilipovich said. "They changed the game with their extended pressure from the full court to the half court, forced us into turnovers and took us out of rhythm." Air Force jumped in front 13-6 in the opening minutes, hitting its first five shots. After Wednesday’s 31-point blowout of San Jose State, the Falcons were rolling. Briefly. Suddenly Fresno State exploded on a 23-1 run. It never got much better for Air Force against a team it beat on the road less than a month ago. "They came into Save Mart Center and kicked our butt," Fresno State coach Justin Hutson said. "I think we had our guys' attention." The Bulldogs built a 17-point halftime lead and, after Air Force closed to within 11 a few times early in the second half, extended the advantage to as much as 34 as it cruised. Nevada, Utah State, Fresno State and San Diego State – the league’s top four seeds, in that order – will complete the weekend’s action in Las Vegas on Friday and Saturday. "I told Justin as we shook hands, if they defend like this they have an opportunity to win two more games," Pilipovich said. "I'm not saying we were really bad offensively. They had a lot do with it. Their length and their size and their quickness. They were there." Lavelle Scottie scored 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting to pace the Falcons. Caleb Morris added 10. They made just 13 of their final 44 field-goal attempts after that hot start. Air Force was outscored by 30 points from the 3-point line and trailed 15-4 in points off turnovers. Fresno State (23-8) had four players in double figures, paced by Deshon Taylor's 18. Air Force, which loses just one senior and figures to bring back its top eight scorers, finishes the season 14-18.<doc-sep>
2019 Mountain West Tournament: Fresno State vs. Air Force, How To Watch, Live Stream, Preview No. 3 Fresno State battles No. 6 Air Force for the second time this season in the Mountain West Tournament quarterfinals Contact/Follow @boettger_eli & @MWCwire Fresno State takes on Air Force for a spot in the Mountain West Tournament semifinals WHO: Fresno State Bulldogs (23-8, 13-5 MW) vs. Air Force Falcons (14-17, 8-10 MW) WHEN: Thursday, March 14 – 8:30 PM PT WHERE: Thomas & Mack Center; Las Vegas, Nevada (17,923) TV: CBS Sports Network STREAM: Get a one-week trial of FuboTV RADIO: Fresno State | Air Force WEBSITES: Fresno State | Air Force ODDS: Fresno State -11 (KenPom) The Mountain West Tournament continues with a quarterfinals matchup between No. 3 Fresno State and No. 6 Air Force. Air Force enters the matchup having blown out San Jose State 87-56 in its first round game on Wednesday. The Falcons were led by Chris Joyce, who had a breakout performance with 20 points and four assists. These two have met once this season, a stunning 64-61 Air Force victory at the Save Mart Center in Fresno on February 20. Deshon Taylor and Braxton Huggins, Fresno State’s senior backcourt leaders, will hope to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive in a win-or-go-home matchup on Thursday night. Keep an eye on the perimeter attack in this game. Fresno State is one the nation’s best three-point shooting teams, one of just two teams nationally ranked in the top 20 in both three-point percentage and three-point attempt rate. Though Air Force doesn’t have the same type of numbers, it has a tendency to be streaky and get hot at times. Eli Boettger is the lead basketball writer at Mountain West Wire. He’s covered Mountain West basketball since 2015 and his work has been featured on Bleacher Report, NBC Sports, SB Nation, Yahoo Sports, MSN, and other platforms. Boettger is a current USBWA member.