San Diego State Is Routed by Athletes in Action, 90-61

San Diego State’s banged-up basketball team suffered another injury Wednesday night--a bruised ego.

In an inauspicious debut, the Aztecs were routed by Athletes in Action, 90-61, in an exhibition game before 1,597 in Peterson Gym.

“I was hoping to make a better showing than we did,” Smokey Gaines, SDSU coach, said. “Sometimes, it’s good to get blown out when it doesn’t mean anything. We can learn from our mistakes.”

There were plenty of mistakes to learn from, particularly when it came to free-throw shooting and ball-handling. The Aztecs were just 9 of 21 from the line, and they committed 23 turnovers.

SDSU was playing without Anthony Watson, last year’s leading scorer. Watson cut the webbing between fingers on his hand in practice and is uncertain for the Nov. 29 season opener against Louisiana Tech.

Forward Steffond Johnson tried to play late in the first half, but he had to leave with muscle spasms in his back. He is out on a day-to-day basis.

Without the two seniors, SDSU has six freshmen among its 10 remaining players. And their inexperience showed.

AIA, a San Diego-based team featuring former college players, ran away from the Aztecs early in the second half. After AIA led at halftime, 42-31, it ran off 10 straight in the second half to take a 60-39 lead with 14:08 to play.

Tracy Jackson, a former Notre Dame player, led AIA with 14 points. AIA, 9-4, has won four straight games.

“Every player on their team played college ball,” Gaines said. “We had six guys playing their first game in college ball. People have to be patient with us. I’m not going to walk on water.”

AIA walked all over the Aztecs by shooting 56.9% from the field and 72.7% from the line. SDSU shot 41.9% from the field and 42.9% at the line.

Freshman Josh Lowery and junior Gerald Murray gave SDSU some hope. Lowery scored a game-high 18 points. Murray had 17 points and a game-high 9 rebounds.

Murray is still recovering from a broken kneecap suffered two months ago. “The doctor had told me I wouldn’t be able to play until Dec. 20,” Murray said. “It feels really good just to be able to play. My knee is still a little weak when I post-up and get rebounds. I think I’ll be all right in two weeks.”

The way things are going with SDSU, it needs to get players healthy in a hurry.