SDSU Runs Out of Players, Gas : Loss to North Carolina Watched by Home-Record 13,106

The breakneck pace of North Carolina’s 103-92 victory over San Diego State Thursday night was all Dean Smith could have wanted and all Jim Brandenburg feared.

Smith wanted his Tar Heels to turn up the tempo, the better to wear down and foul out the Aztecs.

Brandenburg preferred a slower pace, one that would preserve his starting five and lessen the need to turn to a bench stacked with freshmen.

The Tar Heels, as the score showed, got the pace they wanted. The result was the No. 7 Tar Heels fouled out four Aztec starters on the way to their 11th victory in 12 games.

San Diego State (5-4) had to settle with having played a close and entertaining game for the largest Aztec crowd (13,106) in San Diego Sports Arena history.

“The fouls got to us, and we just couldn’t keep pace,” Brandenburg said. “We gave them a great game, but we just ran out of players.”

SDSU stayed with the Tar Heels almost to the end, trailing by as little as 87-83 with 6:44 left.

But not soon after, the fouls began to take their toll.

Senior forward Sam Johnson was the first Aztec to foul out with 13:29 to play. He was followed by senior center Mitch McMullen at 6:07, senior point guard Bryan Williams at 3:51 and senior forward Shawn Bell at 3:30.

The loss of McMullen probably ended the Aztecs’ chances.

McMullen, a 6-foot 10-inch senior from Newhall Hart High School, equaled his career high with 29 points and had 12 rebounds before fouling out.

“We knew McMullen would get a few points off our pressure,” Smith said. “We tried to speed up the tempo and foul McMullen out, but we got (Johnson) instead.”

McMullen had waged an inside battle with the Tar Heels’ All-American, J.R. Reid, for most of the game.

Reid, in his first start and only his third game since returning from foot surgery Oct. 29, scored 17 points and had 4 rebounds in 25 minutes. Kevin Madden led the Tar Heels with 19 points and 8 rebounds.

Reid started because of a sprained ankle that sidelined Scott Williams.

“J.R. wasn’t himself out there,” Smith said. “And I think he was trying too hard.”

But it was Reid who induced McMullen to foul out trying for rebound.

“We both had four fouls, and he just got me,” McMullen said.

The first half was all that the first sellout in the Aztecs’ 13 seasons in the Sports Arena could have wanted. The crowd topped the previous high of 11,044 that witnessed SDSU’s loss to No. 1 DePaul, 85-69, on Dec. 30, 1980.

McMullen was all but unstoppable inside, scoring 18 points and getting 6 rebounds. Williams proved too quick for the North Carolina guards, handing out 9 of his game-high 10 assists. Junior guard Tony Ross came off the bench to hit consecutive 3-pointers.

But the catalyst seemed to be junior guard Michael Best. Hailed as a player who could help turn the Aztecs around when he transferred from Clemson, Best had been less than his best in the first eight games.

Best led the team in assists with 38 but was fifth in scoring at 8.5 points per game, second in turnovers (23) and first in personal fouls (31). But against his old Atlantic Coast Conference rival, he found himself again.

Best, who had his first big collegiate game against the Tar Heels--scoring 20 points as a Clemson freshman--had 12 points in the first half and finished with 18.

Best was everywhere in the first half. He scored twice on 3-pointers, once from deep in the right corner, another from the top of the key. He went coast-to-coast for a driving layup. And he scored on a variety of medium-range jump shots.

It was Best’s end-to-end move that put the Aztecs ahead for the first time at 20-18 with 11:40 left in the half. SDSU went on to lead by as many as 6 points, 29-23, with 10:06 remaining after 3 consecutive 3-pointers.

The Tar Heels had several chances to tie but did not pull even again until Jeff Lebo’s layup with 26 seconds to play in the half. But Williams made driving 10-footer 21 seconds later to give the Aztecs a 52-50 halftime lead.

It was only the fourth time this season the Tar Heels had trailed at the half, and the 52 points were the most they had allowed in a first half in their 12 games.

The Aztecs would have fared even better had they not continued their poor free throw shooting. SDSU, which entered the game shooting 60.3% from the line, was 4 of 8 in the first-half and missed the front end of 3 1-and-1s.

But it was their own fouls that truly spelled trouble.

Brandenburg had gone to an almost iron-man lineup to stay with the Tar Heels, playing his starting five for the first 7:39. It was only time before the fouls began to mount.

After leading by as many as 8 points at 67-59 with 15:45 left, the Aztecs watched their advantage slowly shrink until Hubert Davis picked up a loose ball underneath and laid it in with 10:57 remaining to give North Carolina a 74-73 lead.

The Aztecs held their last lead at 78-76 with 10 minutes left before the Tar Heels scored the next 7 points to take the lead for good.

SDSU stayed within 87-84 on Williams’ 3-pointer with 6:44 left, but when McMullen left 37 seconds later with his fifth foul and the Aztecs trailing, 89-84, the Tar Heels began to take control.