Another Trip by Aztecs Ends in Typical Fashion : College basketball: Slumping SDSU couldn’t shake its road troubles at Hawaii. Jamison’s trouble at the free throw line didn’t help.

The San Diego State basketball team hit the road again and, as usual, the road hit harder.

This time it was the University of Hawaii hitting 60% of its shots--the highest percentage given up by the Aztecs this year--and forward Shawn Jamison’s worsening struggle at the free throw line that doomed SDSU to a 75-63 Western Athletic Conference loss late Thursday night.

Hawaii made 31 of 53 field-goal attempts--including both three-point tries--against an Aztec defense that had led the WAC by limiting its opponents to 39.9% shooting.

Jamison, who scored a team-high 18 points, hit six of 10 from the field but missed nine of 15 from the free throw line, including five in a row at one point.

That added up to the fourth loss in the past six games for the Aztecs, who slumped to 11-9 and sixth place in the nine-team WAC at 3-4. Hawaii 16-4 and 5-2.

But it was just another night, albeit one of the more frustrating, for the WAC’s accidental tourists. The Aztecs have lost four of five games on opponents’ home courts this season and 15 of the past 16 over two seasons.

“That we haven’t played as well on the road as we’d like is certainly disappointing, but I think sometimes that’s the plight of a team that has so many new faces,” said Coach Jim Brandenburg.

Neil Steinly, the only Aztec who has been around for all three seasons under Brandenburg, says, “I thought the win at Air Force (two weeks ago) was a big one for us, but it looks like we’ve still got the monkey on our backs.

“I mean, it has been a long time since we’ve been able to put them together back-to-back on the road (1988 in a coast-to-coast Hawaii-Miami double) and that’s disappointing. We’ve just got to play hard and smart for 40 minutes, not 30 or 35.”

Said Brandenburg: “We played well defensively for a while, and then we had some mental lapses that gave them some easy baskets.”

Early, it was Jamison’s inability to make free throws that set the Aztecs up for the fall despite a rare edge in rebounding (28-22).

SDSU led, 14-11, nine minutes into the game when Jamison stepped to the free throw line for two shots. A 54% free throw shooter this season--second lowest on the team--he missed both, and then he and guard Michael Best were called for traveling on consecutive possessions.

Hawaii took advantage, scoring 13 of the next 15 points, and the Aztecs never led again.

The Aztecs were able to tie it at 28 with 3:15 left. Phil Lott’s short jumper put Hawaii back up, 30-28, before Jamison was given the opportunity to turn it around on consecutive trips to the line . . . only to miss four more in a row.

“I don’t keep my hand down on (the ball), and sometimes I just sort of flick it (with the wrist),” Jamison said. “It has to get better for me because it sure can’t get any worse.’

But it did get worse for the Aztecs. “We got scrambled (defensively), and instead of being down four points at the half, we went in seven down (39-32) because we let them get a three-pointer,” Brandenburg said.

Seldom-used Joe Hudson, who had spent the week in practice imitating Best on the Hawaii scout team, got the opportunity to play with two starters and a reserve on the bench in foul trouble. Hudson hit two three-pointers for the bulk of his eight points, the first with 21 seconds left in the half.

The real Best, who had been averaging 13.1 points per game, was held to seven and committed six turnovers. He didn’t play in the final 5:30 after a 23-foot air ball drew a quick hook.

“We just wanted a quicker team so we could press and get back in it,” Brandenburg said.

The Aztecs next play Wyoming Monday night at the Sports Arena.