Aztecs Short Work for Short-Staffed Colorado State : College basketball: Rams come to town with seven players, but outman San Diego State, 67-50.

At practice all week, San Diego State coaches and players talked about what a crucial week they were about to enter. Three home games, against the three teams below them in the Western Athletic Conference standings.

Yes, there were plenty of reasons for sixth-place SDSU to come out smoking Thursday night against seventh-place Colorado State. The Aztecs were home, the Rams brought only seven players, the list went on.

So what happened? The Aztecs played one of their most uninspired games of the season, and Colorado State cold-cocked them, 67-50, in front of 2,017 fans in the San Diego Sports Arena.

It was ugly. Colorado State Coach Boyd Grant booted back-up center Wagner Manna, the Rams’ tallest player at 6-foot-10, off the team Wednesday, and another backup, Doug Larsen, got sick Wednesday and didn’t make the trip. That left the Rams with seven players. And the Aztecs still had trouble.

Colorado State controlled the tempo and the Aztecs (9-13, 4-8) for most of the night. The Rams were slow and methodical, using much of the 45-second clock on each possession and scoring several times with the shot clock winding down.

“They almost put us to sleep,” SDSU Coach Jim Brandenburg said. “We were poorly prepared, and out-executed. We got outplayed and outcoached.”

That about sums it up.

The 50 points were SDSU’s lowest total of the season, under-scoring their 51-point effort in a 61-51 loss at Colorado State Jan. 12.

SDSU, which dropped into seventh in the conference, shot only 39% from the floor and made only one of 13 from three-point territory. For those of you without a calculator handy, that’s 7%.

Take away Marty Dow, who scored 14 points on seven-of-11 shooting, and Arthur Massey, who had 11 on five-of-nine shooting, and the Aztecs were nine for 34 (26%) from the field.

“They played to our weakness very good,” Dow said. “Right now we’re struggling outside, and they packed the zone in tight and dared us to shoot it outside. We didn’t knock it down.”

The Rams (13-10, 4-7) collapsed on Dow and, after Massey scored some early points--he had eight in the first half--they changed defenses, going with a box-and-one at times to stop him. He was held to three in the second half, and Dow was held to eight.

“We wanted the other guys to beat us,” Colorado State Coach Boyd Grant said.

The changing defenses--Colorado State used man-to-man, zone combinations, triangle-and-one and box-and-one--worked.

“With seven players, we figured they’d try to protect everyone and stay in a zone,” SDSU guard Chris McKinney said. “We didn’t react well to their defenses.”

No, they didn’t. The 17-point victory tied the second largest road margin in Colorado State history. Colorado State’s three-guard offense clicked--Lynn Tryon had 15 points, and Mark Meredith and Wayne Gipson each had 13.

The Aztecs stayed in the game for about the first seven minutes, after which they were thoroughly dismantled.

Massey tied the game, 10-10, with a layup with 13:36 to play, and from there, the Aztecs went nowhere. They didn’t score for the next 3:54, and they scored only one basket in the next 6:55. By that time, Colorado State led, 24-14, and nothing changed the rest of the way.

By halftime, SDSU made only eight of 22 shots (36%) and had twice as many turnovers as Colorado State, eight to four.

“I thought the key to the game was our getting the lead, because it allowed us to dictate the tempo,” Grant said. “You don’t get the lead, you don’t get a chance to do what we did tonight.”

Although SDSU outrebounded Colorado State, 33-26, the Aztecs were outrebounded in the first half, 13-12. That put a halt to any early fast-break plans.

“We thought if we could get our fast break going and get a lead, we could get the tempo our way,” Brandenburg said.

But that idea turned out like most of SDSU’s others on this night. It didn’t work.

Dow was SDSU’s high rebounder for the game with 11, but he had no offensive rebounds.