There’s Excitement but Little Suspense as SDSU Rolls

The game had all the trappings of an intense cross-town college rivalry between San Diego State and U.S. International.

There was feistiness between the players that spilled over into a couple of minor shoving matches.

A technical foul called against USIU’s screaming coaching staff for protesting what they thought was an uncalled technical foul against the Aztecs for too many men on the court.

A career-high 31 points, plus 13 rebounds, from SDSU center Mitch McMullen, nearly matched by 29 points from USIU guard Paul Wilson.

And the emotion for three Aztec senior starters playing their last college game in the San Diego Sports Arena.

But that was just for show. The game itself was another story--a sloppy, 97-82 victory by the Aztecs Saturday night in front of a sparse crowd of 2,498.

It was a 40-minute exhibition that included some air balls from near and far, blind passes flying out of bounds, 32% shooting by the Gulls and 20 turnovers by the Aztecs.

“We didn’t play as well as I expected, and I don’t think San Diego State did either,” USIU Coach Gary Zarecky said. “I’m lost as to what happened.”

Actually, the Gulls (11-16) made more of a game of it than Zarecky’s words might lead one to think.

It took the Aztecs (12-14) more than 9 minutes to build their first 10-point lead (22-12). And after leading by as many as 22 (68-46) with 12:49 to play, SDSU allowed the Gulls to pull as close as 12 points (78-66) with 8:16 remaining.

They could get no closer, as they had to play most of the second half without leading scorer Demetrius Laffitte, who sprained his right knee in the first half.

“In the second half, we kind of lost intensity in the game,” SDSU Coach Jim Brandenburg said.

Nevertheless, the Aztecs did manage to stay interested enough to win their second game in a row, a minor feat they had not accomplished since winning three in a row seven weeks ago.

They did so despite a turnover-filled performance that included another one of those wild performances by junior guard Michael Best, who managed to pair eight assists with nine turnovers.

McMullen and junior guard Tony Ross provided more than half the offense. McMullen’s 31 points topped his career high of 29 against North Carolina and UC Irvine earlier in the season. And Ross had 21 and a career-high nine rebounds.

The performance moved Ross into seventh place on the SDSU all-time scoring list with 1,211 points.

Much of the suspense of this one was taken away in the first 11 minutes. That was about how long the Gulls stayed within any real striking distance of the Aztecs.

USIU was as close as 26-21 with 9:06 to play in the first half. But SDSU outscored the Gulls, 23-12, the rest of the half to take a 49-33 lead.

What chance the Gulls might have had of winning vanished when Laffitte left with a knee sprain with 5:19 remaining in the half and SDSU leading, 35-24.

Laffitte, who set a school record with 47 points in a 127-114 victory over Point Loma Nazarene Feb. 16, went down clutching his right knee after a collision with McMullen.

Laffitte did return for the second half, but he did not enter the game until the Gulls trailed, 60-41, with 15:19 to play. He finished with six points.

But had Laffitte been right, it was clear that it would be the Aztecs’ night.

SDSU did the most to take advantage of a strong inside game by McMullen, their 6-10 senior center.

The Gulls simply had no one to match up with him. USIU even tried guarding him with much of the time by fronting him with guards and trying to get help behind. But the Aztecs often simply lobbed the ball into McMullen for either an easy basket or a foul.

McMullen was 11 of 15 at the free-throw line.