AIR FORCE ACADEMY — There weren’t any shadows left for Tim Anderson to come out of Saturday afternoon at Clune Arena, so Air Force’s senior guard made some shadows of his own.
With the Falcons facing what might have been an early crossroads game in the Mountain West Conference, Anderson was dead-on with his shooting, and his 27 points led Air Force to a convincing 65-53 victory over highly regarded Nevada-Las Vegas before 5,146 howling fans. The win lifted the Falcons to 9-6 overall and 1-1 in the MWC. The Rebels fell to 12-4 and 1-1.
As the lone returning starter from last year’s 26-9 team, Anderson dominated play during a key stretch of the second half. From the 17:36 mark to the 9:04 mark, Anderson hit 14 straight points for the Falcons. During that span, UNLV wilted against an aggressive Air Force defense, and the Falcons padded their lead to 51-37.
Anderson’s performance, which included 8-of-9 shooting from the field and 9-of-12 from the line, was complemented by center Keith Maren, who had nine points, six rebounds and a career-high six assists.
It was Maren’s steal and court-long dash to a layup and a 32-20 lead with 2:53 left in the first half that brought the Air Force crowd to life, and their noise was a factor the rest of the game.
“If we can play defense like we did today and shoot the ball with some consistency, I think we can be very good, particularly at home,” Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said. “I hope this will give our players a vote of confidence. Tim Anderson stepped up with his floor game. I thought he played great defense. It’s hard when everybody is focused on you. Tonight we had some other players step up and make shots.”
UNLV shot only 36 percent from the floor. Guard Curtis Terry paced UNLV with 12 points but hit only 4-of-13 shots. The Falcons shot 62 percent, including 9-of-19 from 3-point range.
The Falcons broke out gray uniforms for the first time since the 1990 season, when Raymond Dudley was a star player.
Dudley didn’t come with the uniforms, but Anderson did. His two 3-point field goals during his 14-point run turned back the Rebels after they had closed the gap to seven points. “The shots were there,” Anderson said. “It wasn’t like we were calling certain plays or I was trying to force it. It came to me.”
UNLV coach Lon Kruger said the Falcons took the game to his team.
“They were driving and making plays, kicking the ball out,” Kruger said. “They had us back on our heels. Anderson was great. Especially during that stretch, he made some big plays.”
UNLV (12-4)
Bailey 3-5 2-2 9, Darger 2-5 4-4 9, Adams 3-14 4-4 11, Rougeau 2-4 1-2 5, Terry 4-13 1-2 12, Rutledge 1-2 0-0 3, Wallace 0-0 0-0 0, Lawrence 0-1 0-0 0, Shaw 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 17-47 12-14 53.
AIR FORCE (9-6)
Holland 2-2 0-0 6, Johnson 2-2 0-1 4, Maren 4-8 0-2 9, Anderson 8-9 9-12 27, Washington 2-4 1-2 7, Henke 1-6 3-4 6, El-Amin 0-0 0-0 0, Hood 1-1 1-2 4, Brooks 0-0 0-0 0, Kenzik 1-2 0-1 2. Totals 21-34 14-24 65.
Halftime — Air Force 32-25. 3-point goals —UNLV 7-24 (Terry 3-9, Bailey 1-1, Rutledge 1-2, Darger 1-2, Adams 1-9, Lawrence 0-1), Air Force 9-19 (Holland 2-2, Anderson 2-3, Washington 2-3, Hood 1-1, Maren 1-4, Henke 1-5, Kenzik 0-1). Fouled out —Darger. Rebounds — UNLV 26 (Rougeau 7), Air Force 24 (Maren 6). Assists — UNLV 8 (Terry 4), Air Force 15 (Maren 6). Total fouls —UNLV 23, Air Force 17. A — 5,146.
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
