ALBUQUERQUE – Air Force came to The Pit with something to prove.

And the Falcons did – even though they lost to No. 12 New Mexico, 59-56, on Saturday afternoon.

“It shows we can compete with anybody,” senior forward/center Grant Parker said.

And while competing never will replace winning, it was at least a step in the right direction for an Air Force team that was dealt the third-worst beating in program history a week earlier – a 91-48 loss at BYU.

“We played the two best teams, I guess you could say, in the league,” Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said of the Falcons’ last two games, against BYU and New Mexico. “And it’s been night and day.”

Air Force had a week to prepare for New Mexico, which leads BYU by a half-game in the Mountain West Conference standings.

“We just had a different mindset this week,” Parker said. “Especially having a week to think about a loss like last weekend. … It’s just a matter of being focused but learning from what the coaches are telling you and just really paying attention to everything going on as far as the game plan goes and then going out and playing hard and trying to execute as much as possible. And I felt like we did that.”

The Falcons also did something they’ve had trouble doing lately – made shots.

Air Force made 21-of-41 attempts from the floor, and the 51.2-percent shooting performance was its best in 12 league games.

“When we make the practiced shots that we take, we’re a different team,” Reynolds said.

Probably play-in again

Air Force seems headed for the MWC Tournament play-in game for the second season in a row. The play-in game pits the eighth- and ninth-place teams in the conference, with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals to face the league’s No. 1 seed.

The Falcons, in last place at 1-11 in the league, are three games behind seventh-place TCU (4-8) with four games to play.

Air Force’s Evan Washington, right, put up a shot over New Mexico’s Dairese Gary on Saturday. Photo by AP PHOTO