Air Force Academy – In a matter of about two hours Sunday, the NIT went from being a symbol in the back room to a second chance for a struggling Air Force men’s basketball team desperately wanting to play again.
After the painful experience of not seeing Air Force selected to the 65-team NCAA Tournament, the Falcons gazed favorably on being given a high seed in the 32-team National Invitation Tournament. It especially was a healing experience when the Falcons learned their NIT opener is Wednesday night at Clune Arena, where they have won 54 of their past 56 games.
Air Force (23-8) plays at 9 p.m. against Austin Peay (21-11) of Clarksville, Tenn.
“The good news is we have another game to play,” senior forward Jacob Burtschi said. “And even better news is if we take care of business in Clune Arena as we have in the past. It’s a great opportunity for us to right the ship, but it’s postseason time and it’s not like Austin Peay is some pushover team. They’re 21-11 and that’s not bad.”
The Falcons are seeded No. 1 in the NIT’s West Regional and will play at Clune Arena as long as they keep winning through the quarterfinals. The semifinals and championship game are played at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Even after losing four straight and going 6-7 in their past 13 games after a 17-1 start to the season, the Falcons held out hope they would be selected to the NCAA Tournament. But their spirits hit rock bottom when Stanford, which the Falcons routed 79-45 on the road early in the season, was one of the last teams picked. The Falcons also have wins over NCAA Tournament teams Long Beach State (69-68), George Washington (66-52), Nevada-Las Vegas (56-50) and Texas Tech (67-53).
“Fortunately, we’re still playing,” senior guard Matt McCraw said. “I got off the phone earlier with some of my friends who aren’t playing anymore and wishing they were in our position.”
Added Burtschi: “We can’t be mad at anybody. We did it to ourselves. Ending the year on a four-game losing streak doesn’t help.”
The Falcons’ slide extended into their Mountain West Conference Tournament opener, which they lost 67-62 to Wyoming in Las Vegas last week.
“We picked the wrong time to not play our best basketball,” AFA coach Jeff Bzdelik said. “We’re excited to continue our season against Austin Peay.”
Fading down the stretch cost Air Force a third trip to the NCAA Tournament in four years. But the Falcons are eager to make a run at the NIT title.
“This is a perfect time for us to get hot again,” Burtschi said. “We’re back on our home court. We have to relax and go out there and play. We forgot what it’s like to have fun playing basketball. We didn’t forget how to win. We kind of left our tenacity in the locker room.”
Austin Peay won the Ohio Valley’s regular-season title, but the Governors lost their conference tournament’s title game 63-62 to Eastern Kentucky on March 3.
“We don’t want to look at our past yet,” Burtschi said. “We’ll do that at our banquet.”
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
