Aztecs Lose Again to Southern Utah

It may be by three points, it may be by 10 points, it may be by as many as 22 points, but one thing is for certain with the San Diego State Aztecs.

They will lose.

The Aztecs, in full free fall, stayed the course again Saturday night, losing to Southern Utah State, 87-78.

SDSU (2-11) continued its worst start since 1986-87 and has lost six in a row. The Aztecs haven’t won since Dec. 20 and soon will need to find more creative ways to lose. This season is beginning to look a lot like a certain radio advertisement.

Been there, done that.

They are turning the San Diego Sports Arena into a ghost town. Only 1,894 people showed up Saturday night, and Southern Utah-- Southern Utah --had a louder cheering section than the Aztecs.

Once again Saturday, in a game that was eminently winnable, SDSU displayed:

* A lack of shooting. What killed the Aztecs was that they could only muster three field goals in the final 10 minutes.

* A lack of free throw shooting. Despite leading at halftime, 41-39, SDSU made only four of 11 first-half free throws. The Aztecs finished the game by making only 16 of 25.

* A lack of depth. A team loaded with underclassmen simply does not have capable backups inside when center Joe McNaull or forward Nelson Stewart take a break. As it was, five players played 30 or more minutes and nobody else had more than nine.

* A lack of defense. Sharpshooting Southern Utah guard Davor Marcelic, who had 34 points against SDSU earlier this season, had 32 Saturday night--23 in the first half. The Thunderbirds shot 52% from the field overall and 58% in the second half.

* A lack of leadership at guard. Robert Ringo had 17 points, and Ray Barefield had 14--finally, some scoring from the backcourt--but McNaull, SDSU’s 6-foot-10 center, led the team with four assists.

And Barefield was so upset at one point that during an SDSU timeout with 2:16 to play, he wasn’t even in the team huddle. He was wandering around near midcourt. He declined comment after the game.

Most crucial, though, was the scoring drought in the second half. SDSU actually led, 68-62, with 9:25 left . . . and didn’t score again until Stewart made two free throws with 6:03 remaining. Then the Aztecs didn’t score again until McNaull made a free throw with 1:33 left.

During this time, Southern Utah outscored SDSU, 20-2.

“I really think we just lost our poise,” SDSU Coach Jim Brandenburg said. “We lost our team concept and we lost our poise offensively.

“It’s hard to catch all of it. We didn’t make the right decisions. Our discipline broke down. We didn’t execute as well.”

That’s a start.

When asked what Southern Utah did differently in the game’s final 10 minutes to cause the SDSU offensive slump, Thunderbird Coach Neil Roberts laughed. He was as befuddled as everyone else.

“We didn’t do anything different,” he said. “We went zone a couple of times, but that didn’t affect anything.”

He did say that he tried to take advantage of SDSU’s lack of depth earlier in the second half. He singled out a timeout the Aztecs took when they were up 51-50 with 16:26 left in the game.

“We extended our defense because we felt they were tired,” Roberts said.

And so Southern Utah, which didn’t even become a Division I program until 1988, has felled SDSU twice this season. The Thunderbirds (10-4) humiliated the Aztecs in Cedar City on Dec. 28, 104-82.

Asked if Saturday’s game was SDSU’s lowest point this season, Brandenburg said no.

“Every game you don’t win is a gut-ripper,” he said. “Yeah, this was the most important game because it was the game we just played. But I don’t think you could put any more importance on that one than any other one.”

No, other than McNaull, who had 19 points and 11 rebounds, there are not many bright spots left for SDSU. And that includes the schedule--the Aztecs travel to New Mexico and Texas El Paso next week.

They have lost seven in a row at New Mexico, and they have not won in 13 attempts at UTEP since joining the Western Athletic Conference.

Maybe someone should check to see whether those airline tickets are non-refundable.