BYU punched the clock, put in 40 minutes of manual labor, punched the clock again and went home with a 66-45 paycheck Saturday night.
It wasn't pretty, but BYU coach Roger Reid wants everyone to know that beating Air Force is never easy, even if it is chloroform on court for spectators."They did as good a job defensively against us as any team we've played," he said. "Everybody says it's an ugly game, but I think it's a beautiful game."
The Falcons do have a knack for getting teams to leave the finesse in the locker room and play their style of physical, gritty basketball.
"They're always going the whole time," said BYU guard Nate Call. "They play hard, all five guys, the whole game."
It's a little scary to think what Air Force coach Reggie Minton might do with a team that had as much talent as grit, but for now, grit is all they've got and it wasn't enough to beat the Cougars.
Reid's teams have also been known to play a hard-nosed style, and it has talent, too - enough to win despite a 40-percent shooting night. The Cougars would have had a much more impressive shooting performance if not for seven blocked shots by the Falcons, more than BYU has had blocked since Shawn Bradley quit coming to practice.
"Seven blocked shots? That's hard to believe," Minton said. "I've got guys that this might double their career totals."
Air Force had its shooting problems, too, hitting on just 38 percent, but that may have been the least of the Falcons' problems. They were outrebounded 44-23, shot 25 fewer free throws than the Cougars, and generally posed a lot less of a threat than Reid perceived.
Still, Air Force hung in there for nearly a half. Forward Jared Miller got the Cougs off to a good start with six of BYU's first 10 points, and Russell Larson came off the bench to score eight straight BYU points midway through the first period. With two minutes left in the half BYU was up by two, 24-22, but then the Cougars ran off seven straight for a nine-point halftime advantage.
The Falcons kept the lead under double digits for most of the second half, but a 9-2 Cougar run that started about the eight-minute mark grounded Air Force permanently, giving the ending all the suspense of pro wrestling.
Larson was BYU's leading scorer for the second game in a row, totaling 14 on five of six shots from the field, with eight rebounds. Nick Sanderson, with 11, and Miller, with 10, were the only other Cougs in double figures.
For Air Force, no one scored in double figures. One player had eight, one had seven, and four scored six, which is great balance but doesn't add up to much.
The victory leaves BYU at 12-2 overall and 3-1 in the WAC, but with a big concern - 6-foot-10, to be exact - going into this week's road trip to Wyoming and Colorado State. Reid played center Gary Trost just 23 minutes against the Falcons, and he wasn't very effective, making three of 10 shots. That knee he cut two weeks ago is still hampering his movement.
"He's dragging in practice, and he was dragging in the game," Reid said. "It's going to take a little time."
Air Force, meanwhile, needs more than a little time. They're 5-9 overall and 0-3 in the WAC, but Minton is confident that at some point, his team will get into the WAC win column.
"I'm sure it will happen, I'm just not going to predict who it will be," he said.
OK, we will. San Diego State, Feb. 1, Cadet Field House.
GAME NOTES: BYU marked the Marriott Center's 20th birthday with cheap hot dog prices (and huge concession lines), a wooden cake bearing fireworks, and recognition of some of the people who have made memories in the arena, including former coaches Stan Watts, Ladell Andersen and Frank Arnold.