Fresno State Bulldogs vs. Air Force Falcons Prediction & Game Preview - 2/22/2022

Time: 9 p.m. ET

Venue: Clune Arena, Colorado Springs, CO

Where to watch: N/A

DraftKings: Fresno State -7.5

BetMGM: Fresno State -7.5

Caesars: Fresno State -7

Fresno State: 16-10 (6-7 MWC)

Air Force: 10-15 (3-11 MWC)

Who doesn't love a good old-fashioned game between two teams on ridiculously long losing streaks during conference play? Because that is exactly where we are for this Tuesday matchup in the Mountain West Conference between the four-game losing streak Fresno State Bulldogs and these seven-game losing streak Air Force Falcons.

You can feel the excitement rushing through the air heading into Colorado Springs, Colorado where the Falcons get to host a Fresno State team that Once Upon a time was actually worth watching. And now after four straight losses against, arguably, four teams that could contend for a conference championship in the next few weeks, Fresno State looks like trash.

Fresno State is coming off a 17 point loss to San Diego State at home on Saturday night. We've talked plenty before about San Diego State defense and how it is always been one of the calling cards for the Aztecs play. Fresno State learned firsthand on Saturday how that is to be the case. The Bulldogs shot 34% from the floor, turn the ball over 14 times, and just looked overwhelmed against San Diego State.

Isaiah hill led Fresno State with 15 points on four of nine shooting, and he also had two assists. That would be brilliant on most nights if not for the fact that he also turned the ball over three times. The other bit of bad news for Fresno State: Hill was the only player to score in double figures in this game period no one else came close. Unless you count Orlando Robinson scoring nine points on ten shots.

Long gone are the days of Paul George carrying his team through the decrepit Mountain West Conference. At this rate we would probably be much better off going back in time and watching old school Fresno State film, will even take Jerry Tarkanian coaching Fresno State at this point because good Lord this team has become such an utter disappointment. Robinson is their best player by far and when he's not scoring, it is a dread to watch Fresno State play basketball. It's almost exactly as if their city is equivalent to the actual team. Who would have thought?

And in this corner, coming in with seven straight losses and somehow forgetting that basketball has never been good at the Academy, I present to you the Air Force Falcons.

I kid, sort of. Air Force has had good basketball teams in the past and I really shouldn't be trashing them this much, but if you're looking for actual basketball pedigree to be acknowledged, you're not going to get it here.

Despite being on such a slide that only certain teams wish they could be on, Air Force played probably its most competitive game of this losing streak on Saturday against the Wyoming Cowboys, the top team in the Mountain West Conference at this current time.

The Falcons actually kept it close, trailing only by four points at halftime, and actually scored enough to keep pace with Wyoming in the second half. But the 22nd ranked team in the country pulled away late with a 45 point second half to get the victory. Lucas Moerman lend with 15 points and six rebounds, and AJ Walker also contributed with 14 points.

Air Force shot 44% from the field which on a normal day, would actually be good enough to win the game. But when your defense is giving out 51% of of made shots to Wyoming, a really good basketball team, you're going to lose most nights. Even when you turned the ball over just nine times.

Outside of this game against Wyoming, Air Force has just been bad. There's a 26 point loss to Boise State at home sprinkled in there, there's a 34 point loss to UNLV sprinkled in there, and even a 12 point loss to San Diego State. The fact that they put up 64 points against San Diego State really says a lot actually so I won't give them too much of a hard time here. But overall, having lost 11 of 14 conference games with only a handful to play, I would not expect to see Air Force advance any further in the conference tournament next a couple weeks.

The one thing I'll be very curious about with this game is the altitude. And I know given some of these losses that Air Force has seen at home over the last number of weeks, it's not going to matter. It could matter a little bit more given the fact that there is a struggling team coming in to air forces Jim, but I'm not going to put too much stock into that. Fresno State is a touchdown favorite and I expect that number to be honored all the way through with a Fresno State cover in the victory. Fresno State by 14

Fresno State is 11-3 ATS as a favorite this season.

Fresno State is 20-37 ATS following two straight games when they were called for 15 fouls or fewer.

Air Force is 43-21 ATS after two straight games of giving up 50 percent shooting or higher.

PG: Isaiah Hill

SG: Jordan Campbell

SF: Anthony Holland

PF: Leo Colimerio

C: Orlando Robinson

PG: AJ Walker

SG: Joseph Octave

SF: Jake Heidbreder

PF: Ethan Taylor

C: Nikc Jackson

Points: Orlando Robinson -- 18.1

Rebounds: Orlando Robinson -- 8.1

Assists: Isaiah Hill -- 3.0

Points: AJ Walker -- 15.5

Rebounds: Ethan Taylor -- 5.0

Assists: Ethan Taylor -- 3.7