Ross’ 30 Trigger Aztec Win : Freshman Reaches His Career-High in SDSU’s Victory

San Diego State freshman guard Tony Ross scored a career-high 30 points Saturday night without making a single two-point field goal.

Ross made 9 of 14 three-point shots and 3 of 4 free throws to lead SDSU to a 77-69 victory over Manhattan in the opening round of the Holiday Bowl Classic in the San Diego Sports Arena. In the first game Saturday night, Mississippi defeated Arizona State, 76-63. Mississippi will face SDSU in the championship game tonight at 8:45. Arizona State will meet Manhattan in a consolation game at 6:30.

With the Aztecs trailing, 66-64, and 3:30 remaining, Ross made a three-pointer from the right side to give the Aztecs the lead for good.

SDSU junior guard William Campbell made the first of a one-and-one and scored on a breakaway layup off an outlet pass by Darryl Gaines to make it 70-66.

Center Gerald Murray’s layup off a rebound and a free throw by Ross helped give the Aztecs their first victory of the season against a Division 1 school.

SDSU (2-6) defeated Cal State Los Angeles, a Division 2 school, 64-60, on Dec. 13. SDSU had lost three straight before Saturday night’s victory in front of only 2,363.

Ross came off the bench to lead the team in scoring for the third straight game. He scored 15 points in each half.

The only other Aztec to reach double figures was Murray with 10.

Manhattan (3-7) was led by Bret Holmdahl with 18, Bill Wheeler 17 and Pete Runge 14.

SDSU outshot the Jaspers, 67% to 43%, in the first half and made 6 of 7 three-pointers. But the Jaspers took 13 more shots and ended up with the same number of field goals, 16.

The Aztecs outrebounded the Jaspers, 20-16, and Manhattan made just 5 of 15 from the foul line. Yet, SDSU led by only four points, 42-38, at halftime.

San Diego State won the game down the stretch after blowing a nine-point lead in the second half.

After leading by four at halftime, the Aztecs built a nine-point advantage, 49-40, early in the second half. But the Jaspers came back. The game was tied at 53-53 with about 11 minutes left.

Mississippi Coach Ed Murphy said his team has no chance of winning the tough Southeastern Conference this season.

“None,” Murphy repeated. “If we really work, we have an outside chance of getting maybe fifth.”

Where would that place Arizona State in the Southeastern Conference? Mississippi (6-2) ran away from the Sun Devils (3-4) in the second half for an easy 76-63 victory.

The Rebels led by only one point, 33-32, at halftime but outscored Arizona State, 18-9, to take a 51-41 lead.

“We rebounded in the second half,” Murphy said. “I felt like the source of 80% of our problems in the first half was poor defensive rebounding.”

Arizona State outrebounded the Rebels, 21-15, in the first half, but was outrebounded, 27-16, in the second half. Mississippi also outshot the Sun Devils, 56% to 35%, in the second half and 50% to 35% for the game.

Mississippi had four players score in double figures--Joe Ayers with 17, Eric Smith 15, Charles Prater 13 and Ronnie Sims 12. Prather and Smith had 10 rebounds each.

Arizona State got 17 from guard Steve Beck, 11 from forward Alex Austin and 10 from guard Arthur Thomas. The key was containing Beck, who came into the game averaging a team-high 23.8 points but was able to make only 5 of 12 shots from the floor.

“We have a good defensive team,” Murphy said. “(Charles) Prather did a super job on Beck.”

“They really took Beck out of the game,” Sun Devil Coach Steve Patterson said. “Beck did not have his usual level of quality . . . They really controlled us with their quickness. We let them take us out of our game and we lost our composure.”

Tournament Notes San Diego State Coach Smokey Gaines said before Saturday night’s game that he instructed his players not to talk to reporters. Earlier this week, Aztec freshman guard Tony Ross, the team’s leading scorer, was quoted as saying he was unhappy with his amount of playing time and was considering transferring after the season. “These kids are young,” Gaines said. “It’s just frustration now. As John Thompson said, ‘Keep the flames down.’ I’ve always been good with the press, but I’ve never had this many young kids. I know you have a job to do. But I have a job to do and these kids get frustrated . . . Right now, it’s snowballing. It’s not a healthy situation.” However, after Saturday night’s victory, the SDSU players, except Ross, were willing to talk. . . . . Former Chicago Cub shortstop Don Kessinger is the color commentator for University of Mississippi basketball games. Kessinger was an All-American at Ole Miss in baseball (1963 and 1964) and in basketball (1964).