Air Force Academy – Speaking from experience, Austin Peay coach Dave Loos has told his team not to feel disappointed about playing in the NIT instead of the NCAA Tournament.
Loos is gearing up his team to play Air Force tonight at Clune Arena in the first round of the NIT. Both teams are smarting over their exclusion from the NCAA field.
“I’ve talked to them about the fact that the NIT is a prestigious tournament,” Loos said. “There are less than 100 college teams still playing basketball. If you’re not ready to play, you’re not going to go far.”
Loos played for Memphis State (now Memphis) in the late 1960s.
“My players probably think we were still using peach baskets back in my day, but the NIT (once) was a bigger tournament than the NCAA Tournament,” said Loos, who is in his 17th season as Austin Peay coach.
Air Force coach Jeff Bzdelik also addressed the letdown from the NCAA exclusion.
“We’re all disappointed that we’re not in the NCAA Tournament,” Bzdelik said. “We’re in the NIT, and that’s a great thing. Let’s take advantage of it and let’s have some fun with it and see how far we can go. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t numb watching the NCAA selection show, because unfortunately we picked the worst time to not play well. But we’re still playing.”
Air Force has the edge in experience with four senior starters, which made the team’s late-season slide all the more puzzling to its coach.
“We’ve played more like a young team as of late,” Bzdelik said. “But I believe our seniors will be up for the challenge.”
Loos said, “They have a tremendous amount of experience, and we know they have been dominating at home.”
Air Force men vs. Austin Peay
What: NIT
When: 9 p.m.
Where: Clune Arena, Air Force Academy
Records: Austin Peay (21-11, 16-4 Ohio Valley); Air Force (23-8, 10-6 Mountain West)
TV/radio: ESPN2/KVOR 740 AM (Colorado Springs)
Notes: There’s not a lot of basketball history between the Governors and Falcons. They played in the Toledo MVP Classic in 1995, with Austin Peay winning 91-72. Bubba Wells, an assistant on Austin Peay’s staff, scored 42 points against the Falcons. … The Governors use a high-low post offensive system with 6-foot-5 Drake Reed and 6-5 Fernandez Lockett the key players. The Falcons got a look at a double-post system when playing Colorado State. … The Governors got a preview of Air Force’s offense in three games against Samford in Ohio Valley Conference play.
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
