Aztecs  61    Falcons  42

San Diego State (21-8) at Air Force (9-19)

Sports Network | March 6, 2010

GAME NOTES: Already set to battle Wyoming in the first round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament beginning on Wednesday in Las Vegas, the Air Force Falcons close out the regular season tonight against the San Diego State Aztecs at Clune Arena.

With just a single league victory in 15 previous outings, the Falcons are already locked in as the ninth seed in the upcoming tourney. Since posting their lone conference win of the season, a 70-63 triumph over the Cowboys, the academy has been held to no more than 56 points in any one decision. On Tuesday night, the squad bowed to Wyoming on the road, 58-49, marking the Falcons' eighth straight setback.

As for the Aztecs, they can finish in either third or fourth place in the standings depending on the outcomes of conference games today. The goal this season is to post a second consecutive 11-win league campaign. Wednesday night saw SDSU top Colorado State at home, 68-55, the team's fifth win in six tries and the 10th in 15 MWC opportunities.

With respect to the all-time series between these two schools on the hardwood, the Aztecs own a commanding 43-20 advantage, winning four in a row thanks to a 70-48 blowout of the Falcons earlier this season at Viejas Arena.

D.J. Gay tallied a team-best 16 points earlier this week as he led the Aztecs to the double-digit win against visiting Colorado State. Kawhi Leonard delivered a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, yet the team's both registered 32 boards on the night. Malcolm Thomas checked in with 10 point, eight boards and five assists. Leonard has come on to fill quite a number of holes that developed when the Aztecs lost so many key players from a year ago when they tallied 26 wins. Leonard leads the team in scoring with 12.4 ppg and is also first on the glass with close to 10 rpg. The one area in which he needs to abandon is his insistence on trying his hand at three-point shooting where he has made only 11-of-62 (.177). The team as a whole is shooting just 31.6 percent out on the perimeter, and still the team has taken nearly one-third of all field goal attempts from behind the three-point line.

Tom Fow came off the bench and rewarded the Falcons with a game-high 17 points in just 22 minutes of action against Wyoming, yet that still wasn't enough to swing momentum in favor of the academy and keep it out of the loss column once again. Grant Parker added 14 points, but he missed all six of his three-point tries and the team finished just 5-of-20 beyond the arc. Evan Washington gave the Falcons a presence in the paint with his nine points and eight rebounds, but still that wasn't nearly enough. Even though he missed a handful of games in the middle of the season, Parker has returned to try and give the Falcons a lift with his 13.4 ppg, but it simply hasn't helped. Washington is good for 10.6 ppg and also paces the program with 4.8 rpg and 86 assists, yet there's no getting around the fact that the academy is scoring just 57.2 ppg.

With the tournament seedings still up in the air for the Aztecs, they can't afford to let down in this game if they want to improve their place in Las Vegas next week. Unfortunately, that will come at the expense of the Falcons tonight.

GAME NOTES: Already set to battle Wyoming in the first round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament beginning on Wednesday in Las Vegas, the Air Force Falcons close out the regular season tonight against the San Diego State Aztecs at Clune Arena.

FACTS & STATS: Site: Clune Arena (5,939) -- Colorado Springs, Colorado. Television: The Mtn. Home Record: SDSU 14-1, Air Force 8-8. Away Record: SDSU 7-7, Air Force 0-10. Neutral Record: SDSU 0-0, Air Force 1-1. Conference Record: SDSU 10-5, Air Force 1-14. Series Record: San Diego State leads, 43-20.

Saturday, March 6th, 9:00 p.m. (et).

San Diego State 69, Air Force 49