AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — As Air Force coach Joe Scott walked across the court nearly 15 minutes after the final buzzer, he received a standing ovation from the several hundred fans that lingered in the arena.
Beating rival Wyoming after a loss to UNLV five days earlier sure was sweet.
Tim Keller had 20 points to lead five players in double figures, and Air Force shot 66 percent to beat Wyoming 83-71 Saturday night and tie a school record with its ninth straight home win.
"I told our guys before the game it was a statement game," Scott said. "Coming off a loss, there were a lot of questions about how we were going to respond. I think we answered those questions tonight."
Air Force (16-3, 6-1 Mountain West) worked its motion offense to near perfection, creating plenty of open shots with perimeter passing, backdoor cuts and kickouts from the post.
The Falcons were 9-of-16 on 3-pointers to beat Wyoming for the first time since Feb. 5, 2000, a span of eight games. Joel Gerlach and Antoine added 14 points each for Air Force, which had lost 26 of 27 in the series.
The Falcons also tied a school record for most wins in a season, done twice, matched the 1988-89 team for most conference wins in a year, and tied Utah for the best start in the Mountain West's five-year history.
"Today we sent the message that we're a different team and you can't come in our house and push us around," Hood said.
Jay Straight had 23 points and David Adams and Joe Ries added 14 each for Wyoming (9-11 2-5), which has lost eight straight road games and seven of nine overall.
The Cowboys shot a respectable 44 percent and had 19 offensive rebounds, but had just four assists and couldn't keep up with the frenetic Falcons.
"What people don't understand is they're playing well and they're playing with confidence," Wyoming coach Steve McClain said of Air Force. "They made good decisions and guys stepped up and made shots when they needed them."
Air Force led by nine at halftime and pushed it to 46-34 after A.J. Kuhle scored on an inbounds play and hit a 3-pointer.
Wyoming followed with a 12-2 run, capped by Straight's 4-point play from well beyond the arch that made it 48-46 with 12:48 left.
But that was as close as the Cowboys would get.
NEW MEXICO 63, COLORADO STATE 51: At Albuquerque, N.M., Troy DeVries scored 15 points and freshman guard Lenny Miles provided the energy in New Mexico's win. New Mexico (12-8, 3-4 MWC) never trailed and broke the game open behind the early second-half scoring of David Chiotti and Alfred Neale and Miles' hustle at both ends of the court. Chiotti and Danny Granger each scored 13 points.