When Ross, Kennedy Have Good Nights, So Do Aztecs

San Diego State basketball Coach Smokey Gaines said he has tried nearly every way to keep Andre Ross and Michael Kennedy pumped up and in the game at all times.

Forget the psychology for the moment, because the best tonic for the Aztecs’ pair of inconsistent forwards is being successful at the outset of the game.

When Ross hits his first shot and Kennedy grabs a couple of rebounds in the opening minutes, chances are better than average that each will have a good game.

So far this season, the odds of both players getting off to a good start in the same game are about as good as suffering through a chilly day in Honolulu. But the Aztecs’ 70-66 Western Athletic Conference win over the University of Hawaii on Thursday night was an exception.

Ross hit all five of his field goal attempts in the opening half, and Kennedy grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on a layup in the opening minute and a half.

The forwards combined for 11 of the Aztecs’ first 15 points and 23 of the team’s 45 first-half points. Kennedy had 12 and Ross had 11.

Kennedy finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds--6 offensive. Ross did not score in the second half and finished with 11 points and 4 rebounds, but the 6-9 senior was instrumental in getting the Aztecs off to a quick start.

“I was in desperate need of a great start,” said Ross, who has developed a habit of scoring 20 points one night and just two points the next. “I was really concentrating on doing what we had to do in the first half.”

Ross admitted he has a tendency to rely on Kennedy if he isn’t having a good game.

“We both felt pretty comfortable out there,” Kennedy said of Thursday game. “Both of us need to concentrate and play well for the team to be successful.”

Aztec Notes

San Diego State plays host to Air Force at 7:35 Monday night in the San Diego Sports Arena. The Aztecs easily defeated the Falcons, 88-73, Jan. 5 in Colorado Springs. . . .Guts of the Night award has to go to Anthony Watson. Just moments after blowing a dunk on a fast break in the second half of Thursday’s win over Hawaii, Watson had another fast-break opportunity. He slowed down his dribble and paused at the foul line, and then threw the ball down with a vengeance and caught it in the air for the slam. “No way I was just going to lay it in,” Watson said. Coach Smokey Gaines’ reaction: “No way he was going to stay in the game if he missed that one.”. . .A salesman at the Chaminade University bookstore said Chaminade shirts and jerseys are in demand on the mainland. The store gets calls and letters daily. Wonder how many of those calls are from people in Louisville? One of the items that is in most demand is a shirt that says “Lightning Strikes Twice” and has the score of Chaminade’s 83-72 upset win over Louisville last year. This season, Chaminade again upset the Cardinals, 67-65.