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No. 11 Air Force tries to bounceback from rare loss

Jan 20, 2007 - 4:18 PM San Diego St (13-5) at No. 11 Air Force (17-2) 5:00 pm EST

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (Ticker) -- After the end of a school-record winning streak, a home game is just Air Force needs.

The 11th-ranked Falcons attempt to record their 26th consecutive home victory and remain on top of the Mountain West Conference on Saturday when they host San Diego State.

Off to the best 19-game start in school history, Air Force (17-2) suffered its first conference loss of the campaign with Wednesday's 85-79 defeat to Utah, which snapped a 13-game winning streak.

Although they yield an average of just 56.3 points this season, the Falcons gave up a season high to the Utes, who shot a blistering 71 percent (29-of-41) from the floor for the contest.

Jacob Burtschi scored 21 points and Dan Nwaelele added 20 for Air Force, which has the nation's third-longest home winning streak behind Gonzaga (47) and BYU (26).

The Falcons are 4-1 in Mountain West play, with a one-half game lead over BYU and 1 1/2 ahead of four teams, including San Diego State, which has split its last four contests.

The Aztecs are coming off Thursday's 73-68 triumph over New Mexico. Brandon Heath scored 16 points to reach 1,900 for his career and Lorenzo Wade added 13 with 12 rebounds for his first career double-double.

Air Force has won the last three home matchups against San Diego State.