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MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 8, 2007

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

THE MODERATOR: Joined now by United States Air Force Academy head coach Jeff Bzdelik, Andrew Henke, and Jacob Burtschi.
Coach, if you could begin with some general comments on the game.
COACH BZDELIK: First of all, you're not going to win big games if you don't shoot free-throws well, you miss open shots, and don't rebound the basketball. It's that simple.
In addition to that, we had difficulty containing their guards from penetrating into the paint. We had our chances.
THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Jacob, what happened to the aggressiveness, especially from the seniors? I didn't see a lot of aggressiveness from you guys today. It was more Andrew, Tim Anderson today.
JACOB BURTSCHI: I think the aggressiveness just came in spurts, only when we were doing well. I guess you can kind of leave it to the seniors, a couple of front-runners. We want to be aggressive when things are going well, but we disappear sometimes when things aren't. That's a bad job of leadership by the seniors.
The younger guys came in, did an unbelievable job. Just brought that tenacity from the bench. It's something that the seniors didn't bring along.

Q. Coach already mentioned the free-throw shooting. Jake missed four straight. There were some others missed. Was that the difference in the game, do you feel, the free-throw shooting?
JACOB BURTSCHI: I think it was the biggest difference. I mean, there's a handful of things. But I think the free-throws is the biggest thing. I think we're like a 77% free-throw shooting team overall. I think we barely broke 50%. I mean, if you don't make free-throws, you don't win games. And that's the way it went.

Q. Andrew, how motivated were you after not playing in the BYU game?
ANDREW HENKE: I was pretty motivated to get out there and try and do something for our team. Unfortunately, didn't do enough, took a hit.

Q. The dunk to start the game, how much did that set the tone, 8-0 lead?
JACOB BURTSCHI: I think to an extent, it set the tone pretty well. We wanted to be the aggressor the whole time. That's what they did all 40 minutes. That dunk was huge. Then, you know, we missed a couple open threes.
I mean, we're a better shooting team than that. They knocked down a couple. Brandon Ewing hit that deep three that went way off the rim and dropped in. A few bounces went their way, didn't go our way. That helped them out to get to a great start and they just rolled from there.

Q. Make your case for why you think you should be in the NCAA tournament.
JACOB BURTSCHI: Well, you shouldn't look at the last couple games. I mean, it's been rough. But you know what, there's a lot of teams that go through a couple rough times during the year. You got to look at the big picture. We lost four straight. Florida lost three straight. A couple teams have a couple rough spots.
You know, what we've done overall, in conference it's been tough. A lot of teams get second shots at us. They were kind of prepared for what's going on. I mean, you know, like I said earlier, a few bounces go a certain team's way. That's just how some of the games wound up.
I think we've shown we can hang with almost anybody. Tell you the truth, our RPI is still great, our strength of schedule is a lot better than what it was last year. I mean, now it's in their hands. We had a chance to take it out of the committee's hands and do it ourselves. Now we're back in the same place we were last year. It's up to the committee.

Q. Jake, can you put your finger on what's happened since this 17-1 start? How disappointing has it been the way the season ended?
JACOB BURTSCHI: It's been real disappointing. I think we've been 6-7 since the 17-1 start. You know what, there's no excuses out there. Seniors got to do a better job because there's four of us starting. When a couple of us aren't doing our job, it kind of leaks down to the rest of the guys.
I'm not sure that there's a handful of things. The rigors of the academy, a long season. It just starts wearing and tearing. Like I said, there's no excuses. We should have done a lot more. We should have done a lot better than we have the last couple games. It just happens sometimes. Hopefully we get another chance to play again, we're going to do something about it.
THE MODERATOR: Guys, we'll let you two go. Thank you.
Questions for Coach Bzdelik.

Q. Were you surprised or disappointed, amazed by the lack of aggressiveness that he was shown, especially by the seniors?
COACH BZDELIK: At times I've been baffled. Not really sure why there's been inconsistency with more desperation.

Q. We had to ask this question again last year, but can you say why Air Force has such trouble picking up the pace when they go into the post-season, the lack of aggressiveness today? It seems like Air Force has trouble shifting gears.
COACH BZDELIK: I think I have an idea. But if I said to you why I think I know, it would be an excuse, and I offer no excuses. We got beat, and congratulations to Wyoming.

Q. In your eyes how important was the start, Wyoming's fast start to this game, in terms of setting the tone?
COACH BZDELIK: Well, it gave them confidence. We saw the lob coming. The whole bench was yelling it. But we just stood there. As Jake said, Ewing hits a three. Hit the back of the rim, went straight up, straight down. Yet we manufactured some really good open looks ourselves.
I think we actually had about three wide-open threes, and we didn't make them. Again, it goes back to my opening statement, and that is you're not going to win big games or any games whatsoever if you're not making free-throws. I mean, we missed 14 of 'em? We missed open shots. It would be interesting to count and see how many. I don't know, we didn't culminate some defensive possessions with rebounds.
You win at most levels with great guard play, and their guard play was exceptional. We prepared for it.

Q. Can you make a more compelling case than Jacob did as to why the committee should take Air Force Sunday, given your situation at the moment? You're not playing well at the moment, lost six of the last 10, your RPI is dropping.
COACH BZDELIK: You know what, I'm not going to make a case. I'm not really going to answer your question because, you know, everybody's talking now. The only thing that matters is what the committee decides.
We put ourselves in this position. We're at their mercy. It's the only thing I can answer.

Q. Andrew playing 30 minutes, Nick playing 14, was that matchups, a hot hand?
COACH BZDELIK: Nick's been really banged up. I'm looking for aggressiveness, somebody that can make something happen - good or bad. There was some bad out there, too. A couple of fouls in the three-point shooter for, what, seven points I think it was. Yeah. Something's going to happen, and I'm looking for that. I've been searching for that.
It goes back to like the last home game against BYU. It was senior night. I went with some seniors, gave them the opportunity. Somebody do something, please (smiling).
THE MODERATOR: Thanks, coach.

End of FastScripts

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