Air Force junior guard Evan Washington had a difficult start to the Mountain West Conference season.

With opposing defenses clamping down on him, Washington made just 6-of-23 shots in Air Force’s first three league contests.

But Washington broke out of his slump on Wednesday night in the Falcons’ 73-50 loss to New Mexico, making 6-of-9 shots from the floor, including 2-of-3 3-pointers. He finished with a team-high 16 points, two more than he scored in the first three league contests combined.

“I feel like I finally made some shots, basically,” Washington said. “The last couple games teams have been focusing on me, and I haven’t been doing a good job of finishing. … I think I did a good job of playing confident.”

Washington also grabbed six rebounds and had three assists and three turnovers – all team-highs.

Good shots, poorly executedAir Force had its second-worst 3-point shooting performance of the season Wednesday, making just 3-of-24 shots from behind the arc (12.5 percent).

While the shooting was poor, the shot selection wasn’t, Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said.

“They were good shots,” he said. “I only know of two that weren’t good shots.”

Playing timeReynolds played 10 players Wednesday night, and all played 10 or more minutes.

Photo by