Aztecs Getting One Last Chance to Make Good : WAC tournament: But depleted team, lacking height, must play No. 1-seeded Colorado State if it gets past Air Force.

By SCOTT MILLER

March 7, 1990 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

SAN DIEGO —

So the San Diego State men’s basketball team has lost eight of its past nine games. So the Aztecs have lost eight Western Athletic Conference games in a row, six overall.

So the Aztecs get a chance to start over tonight.

Eighth-place SDSU (13-17, 4-12) plays ninth-place Air Force (10-19, 3-13) at 6 p.m. in the University of Texas El Paso’s Special Events Center in the eighth-place game of the WAC Tournament (KFMB, 760). The winner gets top-seeded Colorado State Thursday evening. The tournament winner receives an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament, which begins next week.

The problem for the Aztecs is they have to start over with the same cast of characters: nine players, only two taller than 6-feet-6. Neither of them is 7-1 center Marty Dow, who was averaging 12 points and six rebounds a game before being sidelined for the season with a foot injury Feb. 10.

The Aztecs have lost six of seven in Dow’s absence. At times, they have played well. But those times have been few and far between.

“Flashes,” Brandenburg said. “We’ve had halves, and flashes, where we’ve played very well with one another. I think we have shown some progress, but consistency hasn’t been there.

“A lot of that has to do with fatigue, or poor games by one or two players. Everything is magnified. No one can have a bad game.”

With every WAC loss, there has been more and more talk about the tournament. WAC co-champion Brigham Young defeated SDSU twice, but after the second time Feb. 1 in Utah, most Aztecs still wouldn’t admit BYU was better.

“Just wait until we get them on a neutral court,” several players said. “We can get them in the tournament.”

They have said that about more teams than BYU.

Well, here is their chance.

“I think, under the circumstances, our attitude is pretty good,” Brandenburg said. “I think our guys are looking forward to the tournament. Practices have been good.

“We just need to get one win, and I think you will see a lot of enthusiasm creep into play.”

The Aztecs won’t be the only team in El Paso with an injury problem. The whole WAC gang will be there, but in some cases, it will be a motley crew:

--Utah’s 6-9 forward, Josh Grant (hamstring), is questionable. Grant, Utah’s leading scorer (17 points a game) and rebounder (seven), missed the Utes’ final two games of the regular season.

--UTEP’s 6-8 forward, Marlon Maxey, (sprained finger in shooting hand) is questionable. Maxey, UTEP’s leading scorer (12) and rebounder (eight), also missed the final two games.

--Colorado State’s 6-7 forward, Andy Anderson (knee), is questionable. Anderson (averaging 11 points, three rebounds) underwent arthroscopic knee surgery after the Rams’ Feb. 18 victory over SDSU.

--New Mexico’s 6-9 forward, Rob Newton (broken leg), is out. Although Newton’s numbers aren’t impressive (averaging five points and three rebounds), he gives the Lobos height off the bench.

WAC co-champions Brigham Young (21-7, 11-5) and Colorado State (21-7, 11-5) have been the most consistent in conference play. UTEP (18-10, 10-6) faltered toward the end of the season, but the Miners will have the home-court advantage. And New Mexico (17-11, 9-7) has momentum, having won seven consecutive games.

Colorado State has beaten SDSU twice in the past 17 days--64-57 in San Diego on Feb. 18 and 62-45 in Ft. Collins March 3.

SDSU split with Air Force. The Aztecs won Jan. 13 in Colorado Springs (72-68) when Dow was healthy; he led the Aztecs with 19 points that night. But Air Force defeated SDSU Feb. 15 in San Diego (65-59) behind guard Raymond Dudley’s 23 points.

The loss to Air Force was SDSU’s second game--first in the WAC--without Dow.

“We were still in a state of flux, trying to figure out how to play with one another,” Brandenburg said.

Air Force is led by Raymond Dudley (21.5 points a game), Dale French (13.5) and Chris Lowry (12.3). Dudley is the WAC’s leading scorer.

“They’re playing extremely well right now,” Brandenburg said. “Obviously, we’ve got to slow down Raymond Dudley. The key is slowing him up and not letting any of the other four get going. We also have to stop (point guard Jeff) Bowling from penetrating and then kicking it back outside for the open shot.”

With just nine players, it’s important that the Aztecs don’t get into foul trouble. That has plagued them in their past two losses. Against Hawaii Thursday, forward Shawn Jamison (17 points, seven rebounds) had three fouls in the first half and was called for a fourth with 16:17 to play. Against Colorado State Saturday, Michael Best and Michael Hudson each fouled out and Jamison had four.

WAC MEN’S TOURNAMENT

Today’s Game All times Pacific

6:05 p.m.--Air Force (10-19, 3-13) vs. San Diego State (13-17, 4-12) Thursday’s Games

11:05 a.m.--Wyoming (15-13, 7-9) vs. Hawaii (21-8, 10-6)

1:35 p.m.--Utah (15-13, 7-9) vs. Brigham Young (21-7, 11-5)

6:05 p.m.--New Mexico (17-11, 9-7) vs. Texas El Paso (18-10, 10-6)

8:35 p.m.--Air Force-SDSU winner vs. Colorado State (21-7, 11-5) Friday’s Games

6:05 p.m.--Wyoming-Hawaii winner vs. Utah-BYU winner

8:35 p.m.--New Mexico-UTEP winner vs. Air Force/SDSU-Colorado State winner Saturday’s Game

5:05 p.m.--Championship, semifinal winners

BIG WEST WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT Today’s Games

1 p.m.--Pacific (13-14, 7-11) vs. UC Irvine (1-26, 0-18)