San Diego – It used to be that at least the rims at Cox Arena were friendly to the Air Force Falcons.
But Wednesday night they were as hostile as the crowd.
With 11,718 fans, the fifth-largest crowd in San Diego State basketball history, and five Aztecs challenging their every shot, the Falcons lost first their touch, then some composure and eventually the Mountain West Conference showdown 61-51.
The AFA team that torched the Aztecs with 13-of-29 shooting from behind the arc last season knocked down just 5-of-20 attempts Wednesday, the worst performance of the season for the team that went into the game as the top 3-point shooting team in the MWC.
The difference?
“Last year they didn’t have the talent they have now,” Falcons coach Jeff Bzdelik said. “I don’t know that it was anything that they did.
“We shot the ball exceptionally well at our place (13-of-26 on 3s in the teams’ first meeting this season) and exceptionally poor in this game. We missed layups in the second half.
“But I don’t read anything into playing on the road in terms of shooting.”
With four players scoring in double figures, the Aztecs (16-6, 9-1 MWC) firmly established themselves as the team to beat in the conference, extending their winning streak to eight. The Falcons dropped a second straight game, both on the road.
It wasn’t the Aztecs’ touted 1-2 punch of 6-foot-4 guard Brandon Heath and 6-9 forward Marcus Slaughter the Falcons couldn’t handle. It was more like they got sucker-punched by Aztecs forward Mohamed Abukar and freshman guard Richie Williams.
The Falcons (18-5, 6-4) were leading 35-31 early in the second half when Williams scored six consecutive points to ignite a rally that sent the Aztecs on an 11-0 run.
Misfiring from the perimeter, missing a couple of layups and a couple of putbacks, “there were times where we were kind of looking at each other,” AFA forward Jacob Burtschi said, “kind of down on each other if one of us made a mistake.
“We can’t let that happen in big games, especially on the road.”
“I was kind of disappointed in that,” Bzdelik said, but the reality was the Falcons were outplayed and overmatched.
“They just have some very talented players,” Bzdelik said. “You try to do the job on Heath and Slaughter, you plug one hole and there’s another one.”
As difficult as it was, the Falcons fought to the end.
“We were just overmatched a little bit inside,” Bzdelik said. “We went small to combat their quickness, and obviously when you do that, you give up some size on the boards.”
The Falcons didn’t have any trouble penetrating against the Aztecs in the first half, scoring their first 10 points on layups, two by Antoine Hood.
The problem was on the perimeter. The Falcons got good looks, but missed their first five 3-point attempts and fell behind 17-10 before Dan Nwaelele finally knocked one down from the right corner with 8:41 left, starting a 15-8 run.
Matt McCraw drove the baseline with 1:32 to go to give the Falcons their first lead in the game, but the Aztecs tied it 27-27 on a long jumper by Abukar with five seconds left.
The Aztecs also had their problems from beyond the arc, hitting just 2-of-16 attempts, but “tonight we won the game with defense,” coach Steve Fisher said. “This was a quality win for us against a very good team.”
AIR FORCE (18-5, 6-4 MWC)
Burtschi 3-11 2-2 9, Nwaelele 5-9 0-0 12, Frye 1-3 0-0 2, McCraw 3-8 0-0 7, An.Hood 5-7 2-3 12, Henke 1-3 1-1 3, Anderson 2-5 1-1 6, Teets 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-46 6-7 51.
SAN DIEGO STATE (16-6, 9-1)
Abukar 8-12 2-4 18, Slaughter 5-11 6-6 16, Heath 2-7 6-6 10, Williams 2-7 6-8 11, Thomas 0-0 0-0 0, Sharper 1-5 0-0 3, Davis 1-1 1-3 3. Totals 19-43 21-27 61.
Halftime – 27-27. 3-point goals – Air Force 5-20 (Nwaelele 2-6, Anderson 1-2, McCraw 1-4, Burtschi 1-5, An. Hood 0-1, Frye 0-1, Henke 0-1); San Diego State 2-16 (Sharper 1-5, Williams 1-5, Abukar 0-1, Heath 0-5). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – Air Force 20 (Anderson 4, Burtschi 4); San Diego State 33 (Slaughter 15). Assists – Air Force 11 (Anderson 3), San Diego State 14 (Williams 6). Total fouls – Air Force 20, San Diego State 13. A – 11,718.
Joseph Sanchez can be reached at 303-820-5458 or jsanchez@denverpost.com.
