Before Air Force traveled to Las Vegas for the Mountain West Conference Tournament on Tuesday, the Falcons had what coach Jeff Reynolds said was perhaps their best practice of the season.

As Air Force prepares for its first conference tournament game on Thursday night against UNLV, Reynolds said he thinks his team is ready for the challenge.

“I think guys are geeked up and ready to go,” Reynolds said. “I think they understand it’s going to be a challenge, but it’s a good challenge.”

The Falcons understand the stakes are high. At 15-14, they are still alive for a postseason berth. They would get the automatic NCAA bid by winning the conference tournament, but more likely, a win against UNLV, a team that is a virtual lock for the NCAA Tournament, could push them closer to an invitation from the College Basketball Invitational or the CollegeInsider.com tournament.

“I don’t know, all they told me was ‘Make sure you handle your business,’” Reynolds said. “We feel like, even if we lose tomorrow we’ll be 15-15 and we would have a shot. A win tomorrow would really help.”

The Falcons played the Rebels close twice this season. Reynolds said to get over the hump and beat the Rebels, Air Force needs to rebound better and handle the Rebels’ pressure defense better. And if the Falcons have a long scoring drought, as they have in both games against the Rebels, Reynolds doesn’t want his team to panic.

“We went through a lull, and we took quick shots,” Reynolds said. “When you’re not scoring after two possessions, you really have to concentrate on getting a good shot.”

The Falcons finished the regular season with a competitive game at New Mexico, and come into the conference tournament feeling pretty good.

“We’re very excited,” guard Michael Lyons said. “We know if we put together a run we could go the whole way, we just have to play hard the whole time.”

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