By GREG MENGELT

COLORADO SPRINGS — Freshman Jake Heidbreder helped Air Force pull off a 49-47 upset victory over Utah State in the Falcons’ Mountain West Conference opener on Tuesday at Clune Arena.

Heidbreder, a freshman from Floyd Central, finished with 14 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and a blocked shot. He was 5 for 9 from the field and made three of his five 3-point attempts in the victory. He was also 1 for 2 at the foul line.

Heidbreder got the Falcons’ scoring started with a 3-pointer. Less than 4 minutes later, his second 3 gave Air Force an early 9-4 lead. His first 2-pointer, a layup, gave his team a 16-13 advantage with 6:01 to play in the first half. The Falcons and Aggies were tied at 22 after a low-scoring first half.

The offenses struggled early in the second half, but Heidbreder knocked down his third 3-pointer with 9:24 to go and Air Force led 41-33. The Aggies got within a point at 46-45 with 3 minutes left, but A.J. Walker, who led the Falcons with 16 points, and Heidbreder clinched the win with free throws.

Utah State (9-5) was led by All-American candidate Justin Bean, who finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Heidbreder and the Falcons go to Fresno State on New Years Day to face the 10-4 Bulldogs at 7 p.m.

By GREG MENGELT

NEW ALBANY — Bethel controlled the first half and dealt IU Southeast an 83-70 River States Conference defeat at the IUS Activities Center on Wednesday evening.

It was the first game in 15 days for IU Southeast, which is now 5-12 on the season and 3-3 in RSC play. Bethel improves to 9-6 overall and 2-2 in the league.

Junior guard Glenn Hill (Louisville/Southern) had a big night for the Grenadiers with 28 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocked shots and 2 steals. He was 13 for 20 from the field in the loss. Senior guard Jared Osborn (Mt. Washington, Ky./Bullitt East) added 12 and junior guard Anthony Wales Jr. (Louisville/Fern Creek) had 11.

Senior guard Jared DeHart (Trafalgar/Indian Creek) had 24 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists to lead the Pilots to the road victory. Nathan Aerts (Valparaiso) contributed 14 points and Brandon Hunt 11 points to the win.

IU Southeast goes to West Virginia Tech for another RSC contest next Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

By GREG MENGELT

TOLEDO, Ohio — Former Silver Creek star Kooper Jacobi scored 7 points to help Toledo drub Mid-American Conference-rival Western Michigan 83-56 at Savage Arena on Wednesday.

Jacobi, a freshman who helped lead the Dragons to back-to-back state championships, made 3 of his 6 shot attempts, grabbed 3 boards and blocked 2 shots in 16 minutes off the Rocket bench.

Jacobi went scoreless over the first 19 minutes, but his layup — on an assist from junior forward JT Shumate — gave Toledo a 40-23 lead with 59 seconds to go before halftime. His layup with 12:54 left gave the Rockets a 23-point lead at 56-33. Jacobi’s 3-point play with 11:27 left gave his team a 28-point cushion.

Toledo (9-3, 1-0 MAC) got 22 points from Shumate and 20 from sophomore guard Ryan Rollins. The Rockets help Western Michigan (4-8, 0-1) to 18 of 56 from the field (32.1 percent).

The Broncos, who were just 2 for 19 from behind the 3-point arc, were led by junior guard Lamar Norman, who had 10 points, and sophomore forward Markeese Hastings, who finished with 9 points and 18 rebounds. Western Michigan (4-8) has lost four of its last five.

The Rockets go to Kent State (5-6, 0-1) on Saturday for a big MAC game. The in-state rivalry game will start at 2 p.m. on New Years Day and can be seen on ESPN3.

By GREG MENGELT

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — Langdon Hatton went scoreless, but his William & Mary Tribe snapped a 6-game losing streak and won its Colonial Athletic Association opener, 63-62 over visiting Hofstra at Kaplan Arena on Wednesday evening.

Hatton went 0 for 2 from the field and had 3 rebounds in his 8 minute off the William & Mary bench, but freshman guard Julian Lewis scored with 10 seconds left to give the Tribe their second win in 14 games. Junior guard Aaron Estrada, who had a game-best 21 points, missed the potential game-winning layup at the buzzer.

Three William & Mary players scored in double figures, led by sophomore guard Jake Milkereit’s 13 points. Milkereit came into the game averaging 2.7 points. His previous season-high 12 8 points in last Wednesday’s loss at Valpariso. Lewis and freshman guard Tyler Rice each scored 11.

Hofstra, which is now 8-6 overall, got 41 combined points Estrada (21) and senior guard Jalen Ray (20) in the loss. The Pride shot just 30.2 percent from the floor (19 for 63) and made just 6 of 34 3-pointers (17.6 percent) in the defeat.

The Tribe will try to start their first winning streak of the season on Friday when they host Northeastern at 2 p.m. The Huskies are 6-6 and dropped their CAA opener 79-62 at Elon.

By GREG MENGELT

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Kansas scored the game’s first 8 points and the sixth-ranked Jayhawks crushed Tre Coleman and the Nevada Wolf Pack 88-61 at Allen Fieldhouse on Wednesday night.

The Wolf Pack (6-5) were originally scheduled to play San Jose State on Wednesday, but that game was postponed and a contest at Kansas (10-1) was quickly scheduled.

Coleman, a sophomore, scored 3points, had 2 rebounds and a steal as Nevada had its 5-game winning streak stopped. The Jeffersonville native was 1 for 2 from the floor and 1 for 2 at the foul line.

Junior guard Grant Sheffield and senior guard Deshman Cambridge both scored 16 points to lead the Wolf Pack, who shot just 37.5 percent from the field (21 of 56) and 29.6 percent from behind the 3-point arc (8 of 27).

Kansas junior guard Christian Braun had 22 points to lead all scorers. He was one of four Jayhawks in double figures.

The Wolf Pack kick off Mountain West Conference play on New Years Day when they host New Mexico at 9 p.m. on Fox Sports 1. The game against San Jose State (6-5) has not yet been reschedule.

By GREG MENGELT

BOSTON — Injuries, illness and a 4 for 42 from deep hampered the Boston Celtics again as they dropped their third straight game, 91-82 against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday at TD Garden.

Romeo Langford, who was in the starting lineup for the Celtics for the fourth straight game with leading scorer Jayson Tatum out, went 2 for 6 and scored 4 points in the loss. The New Albany native was 0 for 3 from behind the 3-point arc but had 4 rebounds and a blocked shot.

Jaylon Brown had 30 points — on 13 of 36 shooting — to lead Boston.

“I don’t think we were forcing shots,” Brown said. “I thought we got a lot of open looks that didn’t go down. I think it’s unfortunate timing because we wanted to respond from last game. A lot of those guys came out ready to fight and we just came up short. Despite what the statistics say, if you have an open shot, you’ve gotta shoot it. I tell Romeo (Langford), I tell Payton (Pritchard), I tell myself, ‘If you’re open, you’ve got a good look, you’ve gotta take it.’ I had some good looks tonight. I know I shot the ball probably the most I’ve ever shot it in my career, but I had some open shots and I missed some. I missed some shots at the basket, didn’t go in, but I felt like they were good looks.”

Robert Williams was the only other Celtic in double-figures. He finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Marcus Morris’ 23 was tops for the Clippers. L.A. was playing without All-Stars Paul George (elbow) and Kawhi Leonard (knee).

“We defended well the whole game, giving up 91 points, so we were solid as far as that,” first-year Celtics coach Ime Udoka said.

The Celtics, who have lost three in a row, are 16-19 heading into a New Years Day showdown with reigning Western Conference champion Phoenix at 1 p.m. At 27-7, the Suns are tied with Golden State for the best record in the NBA.