Aztecs’ Momentum Goes Up In Smoke

There is a big ram’s head that hangs in a corner of Moby Arena here.

The louder it gets in the arena, the more the green and gold lights underneath the head light up. When all of the lights go on, smoke comes out of the ram’s nose.

For roughly eight minutes in the first half of Saturday’s San Diego State-Colorado State game, there was a lot of smoke.

For the Aztecs, this wasn’t good.

They played like they were in a fog for a spell and stumbled into a hole they never left. And by the time Colorado State had finished off a 61-51 Western Athletic Conference victory in front of a crowd of 8,563, the Aztecs only had one thing on their minds.

“I thought we let one get away,” SDSU Coach Jim Brandenburg said.

“Yeah, this is a tough one to take,” senior center Marty Dow agreed. “We let one slip through our fingers.”

Sure, the Aztecs thought this was one they could have gotten, but instead, Colorado State (8-6, 1-3) snapped a five-game losing streak.

So what happened?

Colorado State went on a 16-2 run in the first half that was disastrous to the Aztecs (6-8, 1-3). The Rams, playing mainly man-to-man but showing some matchup zone, held SDSU scoreless for a span of 6:16 and, including the same stretch, the Aztecs were able to get only two points in 8:23.

SDSU led, 14-10, when the problems started with 12:24 remaining in the first half. The Aztecs trailed, 26-16, when Courtie Miller finally broke the ice with two free throws with 4:01 left. At one point during the run, three of six SDSU offensive possessions ended with charges--two by Arthur Massey.

Still, SDSU only was down by five at the half, 30-25. But Ram forward Chuckie White, a senior transfer from Indiana, scored 12 of his 20 points in the second half. SDSU couldn’t solve him, and White matched his career high.

“He just got away from us,” Brandenburg said.

Said White: “We knew going into the game they had some slow guys who wouldn’t be able to stop our penetration.”

Then there were turnovers. The Aztecs had 13 of them. Colorado State had just six.

“We had some turnovers and some charges, and all of a sudden we weren’t in a tough mind-set to hang in there,” Brandenburg said.

At least one Ram thought the Aztecs weren’t in the right frame of mind from the beginning.

“I didn’t think they were very up for this game,” said freshman Aaron Atkinson, who started at center for Colorado State. “I’m sure it will be a lot different in San Diego. We jumped on them from the start--I don’t think they were in the game.”

Why?

“We did anything we wanted to, basically,” Atkinson said.

Dow scored eight of SDSU’s first 14 points, but the Rams effectively shut him down the rest of the way. He finished with 14. Massey led SDSU with 15.

So much for an SDSU road sweep. After defeating Air Force Thursday, 52-48, the Aztecs were shooting for their first two-victory WAC road trip since 1985, when they won at Wyoming and Air Force.

But this was Colorado State, with loud fans, funky cheerleaders, and the ram’s head. SDSU just doesn’t win here. The Aztecs have lost nine consecutive in Moby Arena, their last victory coming in 1982.

Part of Colorado State’s problem lately has been poor shooting. The Rams had been at 36% or less from the field in each of their three previous games leading up to SDSU. Saturday, they shot 54%--led by White’s 10 for 15.

“During that six minute span (in the first half), we kind of lost our focus offensively and defensively,” McKinney said. “We just kind of gave up on our defense, which we shouldn’t have done.”

Said Brandenburg: “We didn’t shoot the ball in the first half. Anytime we did execute offensively, we got some shots off where we wanted to.

“If we’d have played a little smarter defensively, and if we would have executed offensively, we’d have been in good shape.”

If, if, if . . .

Aztec Notes

SDSU forward Nelson Stewart went down with what appeared to be a serious right ankle injury late in the first half. Colorado State’s Wagner Manna came over Stewart’s back for a rebound, and Stewart crashed to the floor and clutched at his knee. No foul was called on the play. Trainer Mark Haines said Stewart will undergo X-rays when the team returns to San Diego to make sure there isn’t a small fracture. “Hopefully, it’s a small muscle tear,” Haines said.