LAS VEGAS — Upset-minded Air Force put a scare into Mountain West regular-season champ Brigham Young for the second time in less than a week before falling Thursday 80-69 in the MWC Tournament quarterfinals.
Jimmer Fredette scored BYU’s first nine points of the second half, but he was outscored by Air Force guard Anwar Johnson’s 24-point outburst in his final game.
The Falcons, finishing the season at 10-21, played their best basketball of an otherwise disappointing season in the past week. AFA scared UNLV and BYU on the road, upset Colorado State in the play-in game, then refused again to let BYU show off to the NCAA selection committee at AFA’s expense.
With AFA down 53-44 in the second half, a 12-point BYU swing over the halftime score, Andrew Henke and Johnson worked to get Air Force back in contention, and then a 54-52 lead with 11:49 left. The Cougars came back at the foul line for a 57-54 lead. Matt Holland’s trey tied it for Air Force.
Jonathan Tavernari went to the line with 7:18 left to put BYU ahead for the duration.
Air Force continued to hang around and BYU didn’t reach a double figure lead until 1:50 remained.
BYU, all but assured an NCAA berth as the MWC No. 1 seed and a 22-9 record, advances to Friday’s semifinals against the San Diego State-UNLV winner.
