Air Force men’s basketball will open its Mountain West Conference play against San Diego State on Wednesday, December 17, at Viejas Arena in San Diego. The game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. PT and will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network, with Rich Waltz handling play-by-play duties and Pete Gillen as analyst. Fans can also listen to the radio broadcast on AM740 KVOR with Jim Arthur or follow live stats via Statbroadcast.
The Falcons enter the matchup with a 3-8 record and are currently on a four-game losing streak. Their most recent outing was a 61-56 loss at Navy. In contrast, San Diego State holds a 5-3 record and has won its last two games, including an 89-71 victory over Lamar.
Head coach Joe Scott leads Air Force in his tenth season, holding a school record of 97-177 and an overall career mark of 281-354. Brian Dutcher coaches San Diego State, now in his ninth season with a school record of 203-71.
San Diego State has dominated the series between the teams, leading 67-24 overall. The Aztecs have won the last eleven meetings and have not lost to Air Force at Viejas Arena since February 28, 2005—a span covering seventeen consecutive home victories.
Air Force’s roster features significantly less experience compared to San Diego State; Falcon players have combined for 234 total games played this season versus the Aztecs’ collective experience of 724 games. Entering the year, Air Force’s team had only accumulated 132 games played and 48 starts among all players.
Despite their youth, nearly half (47.5 percent) of Air Force’s scoring comes from freshmen. Caleb Walker stands out by ranking fourth nationally in field goal percentage at 71.8 percent and recently made sixteen straight baskets across three games—the second-longest such streak in the nation. Freshman guard Kam Sanders set a new school record by making fifteen consecutive free throws in a single game against South Dakota, breaking a mark that stood since 1958.
The Falcons have also maintained consistency from beyond the arc, having made at least one three-pointer in each of their last five hundred games dating back to 2009.
After facing San Diego State, Air Force will return home to host Wyoming on December 30 at Clune Arena; tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. MT with coverage available on Altitude and streaming through the MW Network.
