Aztecs Put Bad Year In the Can : College basketball: San Diego State’s season was ripe for many negative statistics.

And so, the final buzzer Friday night in Hawaii sounded more like a shotgun blast aimed at a gravely injured horse.

San Diego State’s misery is over.

You know it’s been a lousy season when the current coaching search provides more drama than nearly any game this season.

Where did the Aztecs go wrong?

After two exhibition losses--to Marathon Oil and the Latvian National team--prospects didn’t look particularly bright for the Aztecs.

After a loss at UC Irvine, things looked even bleaker.

And after losses in early January to Southern Utah State, Yale and Southern Utah State again, it was time to start writing the obituary.

It is now March and the totals have been calculated. They are even worse than many at SDSU had feared.

The Aztec basketball program has become the butt of jokes around nearly everyone connected with college basketball.

One loss . . . and another . . . and then another. It wasn’t too long before the record book became dog-eared at SDSU:

- Worst record in school history--2-26.

- Worst losing streak in school history--21 games.

- Worst conference record in Western Athletic Conference history--0-16.

- Worst conference losing streak in WAC history--17 games.

And even worse, a season like this does not just go away.

No, Fred Miller, SDSU athletic director, and his assistants are like the guy who had several bags of trash dumped in his front yard.

They have no choice but to pull on their gloves and start cleaning up.

They are convinced they can solve the problems in two words:

Jerry Tarkanian.

The question is, does Tom Day, SDSU president, have two other words in mind--words such as “No way”?

Day isn’t revealing his thoughts for now. But one thing is clear: Day probably never figured he would become as familiar with any coach as he has with Tarkanian. He knows all about Tarkanian’s Cal State Long Beach days, his run at Nevada Las Vegas.

Boosters have written, SDSU people are asking, sportswriters are calling.

“I wish you guys would all just go on vacation,” Day told one writer.

But the heat is on. It isn’t every day that Willie Brown, Speaker of the Assembly, calls and requests that you consider hiring Tarkanian. Of the other candidates, none has evoked as much interest or enthusiasm as Tarkanian.

Pepperdine’s Tom Asbury? Successful coach, low-profile conference.

Yale’s Dick Kuchen? Done well at Yale but, to some in California, the East Coast is as foreign as the moon.

UCLA assistant Tony Fuller? If the Aztecs hire an assistant, why not just stick with Jim Harrick Jr. and give some fresh blood a chance?

Cal State Bakersfield’s Pat Douglass? Not only have most people not heard of Douglass; they have not even heard of Cal State Bakersfield .

On the other hand, not having heard of a place is probably better than being familiar with a program that has bottomed out.

Jim Brandenburg was fired Feb. 11 when the Aztecs were 2-19 and it had become evident that the players were so disheartened that they had quit on him. It was as ugly off the court as it was on. In private conversations, Brandenburg was ripping players. In their conversations, they were ripping right back.

Harrick was picked for his enthusiasm and positive relationships with the players. Maybe things would be different, Miller figured.

But no. The Aztecs went 0-7 under Harrick.

Someday, Florida A&M; and Texas Southern will be SDSU trivia questions. They are the only two teams SDSU defeated this season.

Other than those two nights, there wasn’t much to boast about. There were enough moments, though, to make you wonder whether this was a basketball season or a Cuckoo’s Nest:

- Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me: The most telling moment of the season came with the release of the SDSU media guides. The cover featured a typical San Diego sunset scene. Pictured in the upper-right corner, staring into the sunset, was Brandenburg.

Hmmm. How appropriate.

- No More Short Shorts: Aztec freshman John Molle has this peculiar habit of wearing his shorts about midway down his hips.

Which looks absolutely ridiculous.

The point, apparently, is to join the ever-expanding Michael Jordan fashion-plates and have the other end of his shorts droop to near his knees.

What looks even more ridiculous, though, is when the game is going, Molle is standing in the middle of the Aztec offense, and he keeps tugging his shorts down further and further while he waits for a pass.

Freshmen.

- Things Went Bump in the Night: The night before the Aztecs played at Air Force, they were involved in a four-vehicle accident when an intoxicated driver swerved in front of one of the team vans.

Harrick, three players and even the team radio announcer were taken to the hospital.

This, more than any other moment on or off the court, summarized the SDSU season.

The next night, the Aztecs were embarrassed by Air Force on national television, 65-47.

- Sugar and Spice and Vinegar: He could hardly contain his enthusiasm at his introductory press conference the day Brandenburg was fired. Harrick, 27, was finally getting his big break. He was becoming the youngest Division I coach in the nation.

He was also quickly becoming unpopular.

His indiscretion?

At the press conference, he said he was going to use “sugar, not vinegar” in dealing with the Aztecs. Many coaches, particularly Wyoming’s Benny Dees, accused him of taking a cheap shot at Brandenburg.

Talk about a no-win season. There were negative reactions even when something good happened to an Aztec.

- Twinkie-toes: Talk about your embarrassing moments. SDSU center Joe McNaull was arrested by campus police in November for taking $2.07 worth of Twinkies, doughnuts and potato chips from a campus snack bar. The incident was quickly settled, but not before word leaked and McNaull’s teammates had a chance to get in a few zingers.

- Father Knows Best: That wasn’t the only time McNaull was in the news. At one point, he was second in the WAC in rebounding and third in scoring. Those totals soon dropped off, the coaching change was made and McNaull’s father got antsy.

During SDSU’s trip to Utah, news broke that Paul McNaull had telephoned North Carolina, Kentucky and Arizona State to inquire about the possibility of Joe transferring. Paul McNaull said he only left messages at each place, and Joe said he probably will not transfer.

- Aloha: SDSU’s one senior, Nelson Stewart, made it all the way through the season before finally quitting the day before the Aztecs were to leave for their final trip of the season.

To Hawaii.

Couldn’t last three more days.

Typical Aztec timing.