Aztecs Lose Hawaii Game, Opportunity to Change Image

So much for the thought that one game doesn’t make a season.

This one could have.

Maybe it even should have, which is why San Diego State took its last fall of the regular season, 65-58 to Hawaii late Saturday night, hardest of all.

An Aztec victory, given the turn of events on the final night, would have meant a fifth-place finish in the Western Athletic Conference basketball standings, the school’s best in six years.

Instead, the loss, the Aztecs’ 15th in 26 games overall (6-10 WAC), meant becoming the No. 8 seed, a berth in Wednesday’s preliminary elimination game of the WAC tournament in Laramie, Wyo. They will face last-place Air Force Academy. The Aztecs tied Colorado State for seventh in the standings but get the eighth seed because the Rams won both games between the two schools.

“It is disappointing because we know we should have been closer to the top,” said guard Arthur Massey. “I don’t see us as an eighth-place team--no way.”

After being picked eighth in pre-conference balloting by WAC media, Aztec center Marty Dow said, “I was hoping, going into this game, we could come out of it with a victory and show everybody where we were headed.”

The opportunities were there. New Mexico held off Texas-El Paso in overtime, 72-70, and then ninth-place Air Force shocked Colorado State, 56-46, setting up the Aztecs’ best-case scenario.

And the Aztecs would be playing Hawaii without it’s top player, forward Ray Reed, the WAC scoring leader (19.6), who was suspended for missing curfew.

A victory and the Aztecs would have met fourth-place Wyoming--a team they had beaten twice--again.

But in the end, as it had all season, SDSU’s inconsistencies would cost it in a sixth consecutive loss to Hawaii (15-12, 7-9) over three seasons.

“We had chances but we turned the ball over (17 times) and didn’t get it to go down on some easy shots (42% field-goal shooting; 60% on free throws); we just didn’t quite get over the hump,” Aztec Coach Jim Brandenburg said.

The Aztecs inched back into it, closing to 52-51 with 7:19 left on free throws by Terrence Hamilton but came up empty-handed on four consecutive trips down the floor (three missed shots and a turnover).

Twice more they closed to one point, the last time at 57-56 with 2:00 left, on free throws by Keith Balzer. But SDSU managed just one more basket, a layup by Dow, who had a team-high 19 points, with 1:13 remaining. Hawaii’s Phil Lott scored 25 points.