Air Force Academy – Less than 24 hours after advancing to the NIT Final Four, the Air Force basketball family was talking about angels, a class paper on managerial economics and Jacob Burtschi’s clutch shot Wednesday to defeat DePaul 52-51 in the quarterfinals.
The Falcons are due for a trip to New York for Tuesday’s semifinal against Clemson, but Burtschi on Thursday was calmly holding court and analyzing his style of play.
But his description doesn’t come close to matching coach Jeff Bzdelik’s view of what actually goes on when his 6-foot-6 bundle of energy is playing.
“Jake plays himself into a frenzy at times,” Bzdelik said. “He plays himself into exhaustion. I just wanted to sit him down a few times so he could catch his breath.”
Bzdelik did during Wednesday’s game, usually when it appeared Burtschi might be coming apart at the seams because of too much adrenaline.
But Burtschi faces an emotional game at Madison Square Garden. The matchup against the Tigers (24-10) could be ready-made for frenzy.
“I’ll probably have the butterflies, but I won’t be in a frenzy unless it’s in a positive way,” Burtschi said. “I sometimes get caught up in the moment and let my emotions get the best of me. I get hyped up and try to do too much.
“There have been times I’ve helped the team and times I’ve killed the team. I missed a couple (shots) during the game, but thank goodness I didn’t miss that one.”
The Falcons (26-8) took a quick look back at the victory over DePaul in the seniors’ last game at Clune Arena. Their home court has been good to them, with 57 victories in their final 59 games there.
For center Nick Welch, the memories go back before the good times started. The last game had special meaning because he missed all of last season with an injury.
“I’ve seen it all here,” Welch said. “I was here in the dog days when there were 200 people in the stands, and I’m here when the NIT is considered a disappointment. The crowd (Wednesday) night was so loud you couldn’t hear on the court.”
For senior guard Matt McCraw, the big night went into the early hours of the morning.
“I was up until about 3:30 this morning to finish a paper that was due,” McCraw said. “I had about a page to go for a managerial economics class. Dan (senior forward Dan Nwaelele) had the same paper as well. He wasn’t up that late.”
Bzdelik said AFA had a little help on the last-second shot by DePaul’s Draelon Burns.
“I told my wife that it was like an angel that came from above and moved that ball over 3 inches,” Bzdelik said. “I saw the ball go one way and the red light go on around the backboard, and I said, ‘Wow.”‘
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
