No. 22 Wyoming seeks rebound win vs. Air Force

No. 22 Wyoming's first game as a ranked team since 2015 did not go well, but the Cowboys will hope for better Saturday.

No. 22 Wyoming's first game as a ranked team since 2015 did not go well, but the Cowboys will hope for better Saturday.

After taking an upset loss at New Mexico on Tuesday, the Cowboys return home to play Air Force.

Wyoming (21-4, 10-2 Mountain West) had its six-game winning streak snapped with the 75-66 defeat to the Lobos, who shot 55.1 percent from the floor.

Cowboys leading scorer Graham Ike posted 24 of his 26 points in the second half, but Wyoming struggled with 15 turnovers and 41.1 percent shooting.

"When you're the 22nd-ranked team in the country, first place in the league, teams and places get excited," Wyoming coach Jeff Linder said. "We knew the challenge that was in front of us. We knew it wasn't going to be easy."

Air Force (10-14, 3-10) lost to Wyoming 63-61 in the previous meeting, in Colorado Springs on Jan. 28, on a buzzer-beating shot by Hunter Maldonado.

The defeat started the Falcons' current six-game losing streak, with the latest setback coming by an 85-59 margin against visiting Boise State on Wednesday.

Air Force allowed the Broncos to shoot 68.8 percent overall and 55.6 percent (10 of 18) from 3-point range.

A.J. Walker scored 19 points to lead the Falcons, and Jake Heidbreder added 18 points.

In Air Force's past four losses, the opponents have averaged 82.5 points. That's a stark increase from the season average of 65.4 points.

"I'll take the blame defensively over the last three or four games," Falcons coach Joe Scott said. "We've got to come up with something to get back to the way we were playing defensively earlier in the year. We're not trying to stop their plays. We have to stop their players and do that collectively."

In the near-upset of Wyoming last month, Air Force shot 54.3 percent and limited the Cowboys to 40.4 percent (including a 2-of-16 performance from 3-point range).

"It is never easy on the road, and Air Force played well, and they are hard to guard," Linder said.

Walker led the Falcons with 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting in that game. He is Air Force's leading scorer, averaging 15.6 points while shooting 49.4 percent.

Ike, a Mountain West Player of the Year candidate, had a season-low 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting and turned the ball over six times at Air Force.

Maldonado had 31 points for Wyoming, but he is coming off a nine-point performance at New Mexico in which he made just 2 of 12 shots and committed eight turnovers.

"It's hard to win on the road if you're going to let teams shoot 55 percent," Linder said of New Mexico's performance. "The fact that we shot (41) percent and were still right there is something we can look at. We've got to guard better."

Ike, who finished with 10 points and nine rebounds in the prior game against the Falcons, is averaging 20.8 points and 9.3 rebounds. Maldonado is averaging 19.2 points and 6.2 assists.

--Field Level Media