Aztecs Have No Luck Handling a Lot of Luc

Oh, what a Longley game for San Diego State.

One week after the Aztecs handled Luc Longley and handed New Mexico a defeat in San Diego, they saw a completely different Lobos basketball team. And one week after, Marty Dow got a taste of just what Luc Longley can do.

This time, when Dow tried to set up for his 15-foot jumper, what he saw was Longley. And when he got the ball inside, what he saw was Longley. And when he goes to sleep tonight . . .

You get the idea.

Longley and his mates out-ran, out-shot and out-passed the Aztecs, and SDSU’s modest two-game winning streak slammed to a halt Thursday, 79-68, in front of a howling crowd of 16,271 in The Pit.

It was nothing like SDSU’s 52-51 Western Athletic Conference victory over New Mexico last week. These Lobos, playing at home for the first time since Jan. 5, looked like they underwent a complete overhaul.

Start with Longley. He finished with 23 points--seven of 12 from the field--nine rebounds, four assists and three blocks. His defense was good enough to hold Dow to a paltry three of 11 field goals in the first half, and by the time Dow recovered--he finished with an SDSU-high 19--it was too late.

New Mexico came out running and grabbed a 13-point halftime lead. The Aztecs, though, shaved that as low as seven in the second half. They threatened to make it closer, but a missed shot here and a turnover or missed rebound there, and they could only stay within dreaming distance.

Longley night.

“They wanted us bad,” guard Arthur Massey said.

Problem was, SDSU (8-9, 3-4) couldn’t solve Longley. Time after time, New Mexico (13-6, 3-4) brought the ball down and fed it into its 7-foot-2 center. The Aztec defense collapsed inside. Longley flicked a pass back outside. Usually, the recipient of his pass would have an open jumper. Like clockwork.

“That’s the way it should work,” Longley said. “The inside-outside play might be one of the oldest plays in the book, besides the give-and-go or the screen-and-roll. Fundamentals.”

How deft was New Mexico’s passing? As a team, the Lobos had 18 assists. SDSU had seven.

“Longley passed the ball extremely well,” SDSU Coach Jim Brandenburg said. “We tried to trap down, and he found the open guy quickly, and that guy knocked it down.”

Said Dow: “Luc played a hell of a game tonight. He was making some great passes, quick moves, and their outside guys were getting him the ball. He touched it at least once every time down the floor.”

It wasn’t just Longley, though; the Lobos came at SDSU in packs. Forward Rob Robbins scored 18 points for the Lobos, and guard Willie Banks added 17.

As for the Aztecs, it was the usual one-two punch of Dow and Massey (17 points). Other than that, Joe McNaull was the next-highest scorer with eight. SDSU shot 45.2% from the field.

Because of the lack of offensive punch, SDSU has depended on its defense this winter. Entering the game, if you counted only WAC games, the Aztecs were ranked first in the conference by holding opponents to an average of 59.3 points a game. The Aztecs were 3-0 in the WAC when limiting opponents to fewer than 60 points, and 0-3 when opponents scored more than 60 points. Make that 0-4.

The Lobos, fifth in the nation entering the game by shooting 53.5% from the field, checked in Thursday night at 51.9%.

“I thought we played a little tentatively in the first half,” Brandenburg said. “We weren’t quite flowing offensively. . . . If you took away their uncontested layups and added our missed free throws, it could have been a different basketball game.”

The Aztecs made only five of 12 free throws in the first half, and at one point five minutes into the game, three consecutive possessions ended in turnovers.

So this one ended just like SDSU’s previous five games in The Pit--with a loss. The Aztecs have not won here since 1984.

Longley time.

Aztec Notes

Forward Vern Thompson, feeling like he is catching the flu, sat the bench for the entire second half. He was zero for three from the field in the first. . . . Luc Longley’s 23 points moved him past Mel Daniels and Willie Long and into third place on New Mexico’s all-time scoring list. He now has 1,551 points. . . . The best thing about The Pit is still the New Mexico pep band’s pre-game rendition of “Looney Tunes” when the opponent takes the court.