San Diego – There was a strong message for the 15th-ranked Air Force Falcons from the San Diego State student body Tuesday night at Cox Arena that seemed to fit the final score.
As the chant “overrated” banged into the ears of the Falcons, the Aztecs rolled to a 62-41 rout that dropped Air Force (20-4, 7-3) out of the lead in the Mountain West Conference men’s basketball race.
Brigham Young (18-6, 8-2) took sole possession of the lead with a 77-73 win at Wyoming.
“We knew if we wanted to even pretend to be in the race, we had to win tonight,” said Steve Fisher, coach of the defending MWC champion Aztecs (16-7, 5-4). “We did, and now we have a chance. We had six days to prepare for this game and that was immensely helpful. I was proud of our defense. In the first half, Air Force had no offensive rebounds, no back-door cuts and no 3-point field goals.”
Air Force never led after falling behind 8-0. The Falcons shot just 31.8 percent from the field in the first half and trailed 24-16 entering the second half. By game’s end, they had hit only 3-of-19 shots from 3-point range.
Air Force coach Jeff Bzdelik was so disgusted with his team’s performance, he benched all of his starters for nearly the last five minutes of the game.
San Diego State used a 26-8 run to grab a 54-30 lead.
“This one was a clunker,” Bzdelik said. “I’m not really sure about the reason. We were shooting air balls. We missed opportunities around the rim. When you’re not making shots, your defensive energy defuses. We have four seniors out there. I don’t know why it would be that we were tentative at the start of the game. We talked about the importance of playing our best basketball for 40 minutes and we didn’t do that.”
Andrew Henke, a sophomore guard, led the Falcons with 11 points off the bench. He was the only AFA player to score in double figures.
San Diego State received strong performances from Jerome Habel (11 points and eight rebounds), Mohamed Abukar (16 points and eight rebounds) and star guard Brandon Heath (14 points and six assists).
Air Force’s starting five combined for only 22 points.
The Aztecs beat a ranked team for the first time since 2001, so it was no surprise the school’s student body stormed the court and celebrated when it was over.
The Falcons scored their fewest points since scoring 35 against Texas-Pan American in 2004 and their fewest in a conference game since scoring 33 against BYU in 2003.
AFA senior forward Jacob Burtschi, who finished with four points and nine rebounds, noted some urgency after the game.
“We have to get back to the way we were playing in the first part of our schedule,” Burtschi said. “We were road warriors. We have to dig deep and see if we’re men or if we’re going to be little boys and run away.”
AFA senior forward Dan Nwaelele, who had been averaging a team-high 15.1 points, was held to two points.
AIR FORCE (20-4, 7-3 MWC)
Burtschi 2-8 0-0 4, Nwaelele 0-4 2-2 2, Welch 2-6 0-0 4, McCraw 2-9 0-0 4, Anderson 3-6 2-2 8, Henke 4-7 0-0 11, Hood 1-1 0-0 2, Teets 0-0 0-0 0, Holland 1-1 0-0 2, Kenzik 1-1 0-0 2, Johnson 1-4 0-0 2, Frye 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 17-47 4-6 41.
SAN DIEGO STATE (16-7, 5-4 MWC)
Habel 5-8 1-1 11, Wade 2-6 1-2 5, Abukar 8-12 0-0 16, Heath 4-12 4-4 14, Williams 2-3 0-0 6, Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, Pastorek 0-0 0-0 0, Martin 0-1 0-0 0, Velasquez 0-1 0-0 0, Lamb 1-1 0-0 2, Spain 2-5 3-4 8. Totals 24-51 9-11 62.
Halftime – San Diego State 24-16. 3-point goals – Air Force 3-19 (Henke 3-6, Welch 0-1, Nwaelele 0-2, McCraw 0-3, Anderson 0-3, Burtschi 0-4); San Diego State 5-16 (Williams 2-3, Heath 2-7, Spain 1-2, Abukar 0-1, Wade 0-1, Martin 0-1, Velasquez 0-1). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – Air Force 23 (Burtschi 9), San Diego State 35 (Abukar 8, Habel 8). Assists – Air Force 10 (Anderson 2, Burtschi 2, McCraw 2); San Diego State 15 (Heath 6). Total fouls – Air Force 14, San Diego State 12.
A – 9,231.
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
