Once Again, Gaines and the Aztecs Suffer a Defeat in Wyoming, 89-71

No one knows how tough it is to win at Wyoming as well as Smokey Gaines.

Seven times, Gaines has brought his SDSU teams here, and only once have the Aztecs emerged with a victory.

So, it came as no surprise that the Aztecs lost to the Cowboys here Thursday night, 89-71.

The loss leaves San Diego State with a Western Athletic Conference record of 6-7, and an overall record of 7-16.. The second-place Cowboys are 8-3 in the WAC, 14-9 overall.

While Thursday’s win was sweet for Wyoming, avenging an 88-82 loss to San Diego earlier in the year, that game in San Diego has proven costly. It left Wyoming with three conference losses and almost no chance to win the WAC outright.

Early on, SDSU appeared to have solved the puzzle which Wyoming center Eric Leckner posed them in the teams’ first meeting, when he scored 28 points. The Aztecs raced to a 16-12 lead in the first eight minutes Thursday and Leckner scored only one in that period.

Wyoming turned it around, however, in the next 9 1/2 minutes, converting six fast breaks into 12 points. During that period, Wyoming outscored the Aztecs, 24-7, and took a 36-23 lead.

“That’s all you need to get beat,” Gaines said of Wyoming’s first-half run. “We did the same thing to them in San Diego. They just changed the continuity of the game.”

Wyoming changed the flow of the game thanks to the outstanding play of its backcourt. The tandem of senior Les Bolden and sophomores Sean Dent and Turk Boyd combined for 38 points, 14 rebounds, 14 assists and 8 steals. Dent had six of the steals.

Gaines stayed with his youth movement in Laramie, starting two freshmen, guard Tracy Dildy and forward Kevin Brown. The results were not outstanding statistically, but Gaines was pleased.

“This is a tough place to play with a lot of new faces, but it was a good place to break him (Dildy) in. Tracy played well, we just have to teach him not to turn his back so much.”

Jim Brandenburg, Wyoming coach, agreed that his team’s guard play was a critical factor.

“Our guards . . . moved around a bunch and knocked the ball loose a lot. When you knock the ball loose, they can’t pass the ball well and don’t get good shots.”

Anthony Watson led the Aztecs with 31 points. Steffond Johnson had 15 points and 7 rebounds and John Martens had 11 points and 9 rebounds.

SDSU, now 1-9 on the road this season, will play Hawaii Saturday at the San Diego Sports Arena.