Walker lifts Air Force past Fresno St. 77-70 in MWC tourney
LAS VEGAS -- A.J. Walker had a career-high 24 points as Air Force topped Fresno State 77-70 in the first round of the Mountain West Conference tournament Wednesday.
The No. 9 seed Falcons plays top-seeded and fifth-ranked San Diego State the quarterfinals Thursday. The Aztecs won the only regular-season matchup between the teams 89-74.
Walker made 5 of 7 from 3-point range. Lavelle Scottie added 21 points and Ryan Swan scored 12 for Air Force (12-19).
New Williams made six 3-pointers and finished with 21 points for the Bulldogs (11-19). Nate Grimes added 13 points and 11 rebounds. Noah Blackwell and Niven Hart each scored 13 points as well.
Grimes hit a 3-pointer to give Fresno State a 66-64 lead with 4:33 to play but the Bulldogs shot just 1 of 8 from there as Air Forced scored 13 of the final 17 points.
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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com
Game Information
- Referees:
- Chris Rastatter
- David Hall
- Eric Curry
2023-24 Mountain West Conference Standings
Team | CONF | GB | OVR |
---|---|---|---|
Utah State | 14-4 | - | 28-7 |
Nevada | 13-5 | 1 | 26-8 |
Boise State | 13-5 | 1 | 22-11 |
UNLV | 12-6 | 2 | 21-13 |
San Diego State | 11-7 | 3 | 26-11 |
New Mexico | 10-8 | 4 | 26-10 |
Colorado State | 10-8 | 4 | 25-11 |
Wyoming | 8-10 | 6 | 15-17 |
Fresno State | 4-14 | 10 | 12-21 |
Air Force | 2-16 | 12 | 9-22 |
San José State | 2-16 | 12 | 9-23 |