# 2016–17 Air Force Falcons men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Air Force Falcons men's basketball team represented the United States Air Force Academy during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Falcons, led by fifth-year head coach Dave Pilipovich, played their home games at the Clune Arena on the Air Force Academy's main campus in Colorado Springs, Colorado as members of the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 12–21, 4–14 in Mountain West play to finish in a tie for tenth place. They defeated Wyoming in the first round of the Mountain West tournament to advance to the quarterfinals where they lost to Colorado State.

## Previous season

The Falcons finished the 2015–16 season 14–18, 5–13 in Mountain West play to finish in tenth place in conference. They lost in the first round of the Mountain West tournament to UNLV.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Jace Chacon | 0 | G | 6'4" | 195 | Freshman | Everett, WA | Transferred |
| Dylan Clark | 3 | G | 5'11" | 165 | Freshman | Cibolo, TX | No longer on team roster |
| David Louthan | 12 | G | 6'2" | 185 | Freshman | Colorado Springs, CO | No longer on team roster |
| David Cooper | 13 | G | 6'5" | 190 | Freshman | Olympia, WA | No longer on team roster |
| Dezmond James | 24 | G/F | 6'4" | 215 | Sophomore | Parker, CO | No longer on team roster |
| Luke Lutes | 31 | F | 6'7" | 205 | Sophomore | Sacramento, CA | Left the team for personal reasons |
| Zach Moer | 41 | C | 6'11" | 218 | Senior | Dallas, TX | Graduated |

## Recruiting Class of 2016

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Ameka Akaya #116 SF | Hagerstown, MD | St. Maria Goretti High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Dec 7, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 59 ||||||
| Trey Smith SG | Delphos, OH | Jefferson High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Jan 1, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| James Edwards PG | Pittsburgh, PA | Plum Senior High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Sep 16, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Chris Joyce SG | Jacksonville, FL | Bishop Kenny High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | N/A | Oct 5, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Breven Engelson PF | Battle Mountain, NV | Battle Mountain High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Nov 4, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Matt Weir PG | New Concord, OH | John Glenn High School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | N/A | Nov 22, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Isaac Monson PF | Salt Lake City, UT | Olympus High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | N/A | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: – Rivals: – ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 7, 2016. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/04/2016* 7:00 pm | | Colorado Christian | W 81–71 | | Clune Arena Colorado Springs, CO |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/11/2016* 5:00 pm | | McPherson | W 88–71 | 1–0 | Clune Arena (750) Colorado Springs, CO |
| 11/14/2016* 7:00 pm | | Jacksonville | W 86–68 | 2–0 | Clune Arena (870) Colorado Springs, CO |
| 11/15/2016* 7:00 pm | | Johnson & Wales | W 105–62 | 3–0 | Clune Arena (782) Colorado Springs, CO |
| 11/20/2016* 2:00 pm | | Florida A&M Savannah Invitational opening round | W 87–62 | 4–0 | Clune Arena (836) Colorado Springs, CO |
| 11/22/2016* 7:00 pm | | Stetson Savannah Invitational opening round | W 85–72 | 5–0 | Clune Arena (1,523) Colorado Springs, CO |
| 11/25/2016* 5:30 pm | | vs. Akron Savannah Invitational semifinals | L 75–84 | 5–1 | Savannah Civic Center (2,263) Savannah, GA |
| 11/26/2016* 3:00 pm | | vs. East Carolina Savannah Invitational 3rd place game | L 63–70 | 5–2 | Savannah Civic Center (2,391) Savannah, GA |
| 11/30/2016* 7:00 pm | | at New Mexico State | L 70–78 | 5–3 | Pan American Center (4,382) Las Cruces, NM |
| 12/03/2016* 7:00 pm | | Missouri State MW–MVC Challenge | W 83–70 | 6–3 | Clune Arena (1,986) Colorado Springs, CO |
| 12/07/2016* 5:00 pm | | at Army | L 71–79 | 6–4 | Christl Arena (810) West Point, NY |
| 12/10/2016* 1:00 pm | | Denver | L 65–77 | 6–5 | Clune Arena (1,852) Colorado Springs, CO |
| 12/19/2016* 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | Colorado | L 68–75 | 6–6 | Clune Arena (3,530) Colorado Springs, CO |
| 12/22/2016* 2:00 pm | | UC Davis | W 77–67 | 7–6 | Clune Arena (1,021) Colorado Springs, CO |
| Mountain West regular season ||||||
| 12/28/2016 7:00 pm | | at Wyoming | L 72–84 | 7–7 (0–1) | Arena-Auditorium (5,021) Laramie, WY |
| 12/31/2016 12:00 pm, RTRM | | Utah State | W 78–73 | 8–7 (1–1) | Clune Arena (1,143) Colorado Springs, CO |
| 01/07/2017 12:00 pm, RTRM | | at Colorado State | L 58–85 | 8–8 (1–2) | Moby Arena (3,243) Fort Collins, CO |
| 01/11/2017 7:00 pm | | Fresno State | W 81–72 | 9–8 (2–2) | Clune Arena (1,232) Colorado Springs, CO |
| 01/14/2017 2:00 pm | | San Jose State | L 85–89 | 9–9 (2–3) | Clune Arena (2,417) Colorado Springs, CO |
| 01/18/2017 8:00 pm, RTRM | | at Nevada | L 76–83 | 9–10 (2–4) | Lawlor Events Center (8,462) Reno, NV |
| 01/21/2017 4:00 pm, RTRM | | at UNLV | L 85–87 $^{2OT}$ | 9–11 (2–5) | Thomas & Mack Center (9,917) Paradise, NV |
| 01/25/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | San Diego State | W 60–57 | 10–11 (3–5) | Clune Arena (1,705) Colorado Springs, CO |
| 02/01/2017 8:00 pm, RTRM | | at Fresno State | L 64–74 | 10–12 (3–6) | Save Mart Center (6,145) Fresno, CA |
| 02/04/2017 2:00 pm | | Wyoming | L 74–83 | 10–13 (3–7) | Clune Arena (3,852) Colorado Springs, CO |
| 02/08/2017 7:00 pm, RTRM | | New Mexico | L 67–74 | 10–14 (3–8) | Clune Arena (2,125) Colorado Springs, CO |
| 02/11/2017 4:00 pm, RTRM | | at Boise State | L 66–76 | 10–15 (3–9) | Taco Bell Arena (7,208) Boise, ID |
| 02/15/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Nevada | L 59–78 | 10–16 (3–10) | Clune Arena (1,623) Colorado Springs, CO |
| 02/18/2017 3:00 pm | | at San Jose State | L 78–83 $^{OT}$ | 10–17 (3–11) | Event Center Arena (2,254) San Jose, CA |
| 02/22/2017 2:00 pm | | UNLV | W 81–58 | 11–17 (4–11) | Clune Arena (2,031) Colorado Springs, CO |
| 02/25/2017 7:00 pm, RTRM | | at Utah State | L 58–89 | 11–18 (4–12) | Smith Spectrum (8,015) Logan, UT |
| 03/01/2017 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | at San Diego State | L 38–51 | 11–19 (4–13) | Viejas Arena (12,044) San Diego, CA |
| 03/04/2017 2:00 pm, RTRM | | Boise State | L 70–98 | 11–20 (4–14) | Clune Arena (2,118) Colorado Springs, CO |
| Mountain West tournament ||||||
| 03/08/2017 2:30 pm, MWN | (10) | vs. (7) Wyoming First round | W 83–68 | 12–20 | Thomas & Mack Center (4,979) Paradise, NV |
| 03/09/2017 7:00 pm, CBSSN | (10) | vs. (2) Colorado State Quarterfinals | L 55–81 | 12–21 | Thomas & Mack Center (5,057) Paradise, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. ||||||