No. 16 SDSU grounds Air Force Ryan Schuler
MONDAY January 23, 2012 Volume 97, Issue 60 W W W.T H E D A I LYA Z T E C . C O M
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SDSU’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT N E W S PA P E R SINCE 1913
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INDEX: SDSU 57 | AFA 44 After thrilling finishes in its previous two games against UNLV and the University of New Mexico, the No. 16 San Diego State men’s basketball team looked to put on another good show for fans at Viejas Arena Saturday night. The Aztecs did not deliver, but are not entirely at fault. Looking sluggish at times, SDSU could never quite put away Air Force as the Falcons consistently milked the shot clock to the final seconds, slowed down the tempo of the game on both ends of the court and consistently used pesky backdoor cuts for easy layups. Yet SDSU (17-2) was able to knock off Air Force, 57-44, to move to a perfect 3-0 Mountain West Conference record. “When you’re a running, up-tempo team like us, it’s kind of frustrating guarding a team like them,” junior guard Chase Tapley said. “They’re very persistent with their offense, back dooring, cutting, curling and flaring. It’s tough to guard. You have to maintain for maybe the whole 35 seconds of the shot clock … You just really focus on the concept of playing Air Force defense. I think we did a great job of that.” Tapley led SDSU in scoring with 16 points, while sophomore guard
NEWS
PETER KLUCH, SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Jamaal Franklin chipped in 14 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double. Junior center Taylor Broekhuis led Air Force with 16 points. Junior guard / forward Mike Fitzgerald also contributed 14 points for the Falcons (11-6, 1-2). The Aztecs led by as many as 13 points late in the second half, but were never able to put away the Falcons for good despite Air Force making a season-low one-of-18 shot
attempts from three-point range. “You can’t go on the road in this league and shoot 1-for-18 from the three-point line and turn the ball over as much as we did and expect to win games,” Broekhuis said. “They came out and executed their game plan and got us rushing around and turning the ball over and we weren’t able to flow into our offense.” Despite the sometimes sluggish play, SDSU head coach Steve Fisher
was happy with the win. “Nothing comes easy and rarely does it look pretty when you play Air Force,” Fisher said. “This is a good team we played tonight. We came in and got a victory. We’re 3-0 and 17-2 and that’s pretty good.” Next, the Aztecs will travel to Laramie, Wyo. to take on the Wyoming Cowboys, who will go into the matchup with a 16-3 record. The game is set for 5:30 p.m. tomorrow.
His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, will visit SDSU in April.
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WO M E N ’S B AS K E T B A L L
Aztecs come back to extend streak Ruben Meza contributor
SDSU 75 | AFA 62 Missed free throws almost cost the San Diego State women’s basketball team its winning streak one week earlier, but on Saturday it helped it extend its run to 10 games. SDSU (14-4, MW 4-0) defeated Air Force 75-62 at Clune Arena in comeback fashion. Courtney Clements received her first career double-double as she led the Aztecs with 21 points and 10 rebounds against the Falcons (5-14, MW 0-4).
SDSU, playing at an altitude of 7,163 feet and containing three asthmatic players, struggled early on the road. Air Force, which is the worst shooting team in the conference (34 percent), shot 59 percent in the first half (13-22). Coming from a team that lost 9836 to Wyoming, a loss where Air Force made just 13 shots the entire game, this matchup could have easily been overlooked. “Our team didn’t think that. The way teams respond after a big loss is they either roll over and die or they play like crazy,” SDSU head coach Beth Burns said. “This is the Air Force Academy. We knew we would have our hands full.” The Aztecs were down heading into the half 32-30, a two-point deficit that
could have been much worse had the Falcons not committed 16 turnovers. SDSU knew Air Force gave up a 28-0 run in the second half in its loss to Wyoming and believed it could turn things around by attacking fast. Junior guard Chelsea Hopkins found sophomore guard Kiyana Stamps for a three-point shot to take a 33-32 advantage to begin the second half. Later on, with the score tied at 47, Clements struck a three, sparking a 21-10 SDSU run. Successfully executing their halftime thoughts regarding Air Force’s previous loss to Wyoming, the Aztecs may have recalled their poor free throw struggles during their close game against UNLV. SDSU missed crucial free throw
attempts in the final minutes of regulation, allowing the Lady Rebels to force overtime, which the Aztecs eventually won. Against AFA, SDSU shot 80 percent from the line, making 18-20 in the second half when it mattered most. “It’s all really just a mental thing,” Hopkins said. “We’ve been taking a lot of free throws during practice and we all came through when we needed to today.” Ten of Hopkins’ 19 points came from free throws. The captain also contributed seven assists, six rebounds and five steals to the victory. The Aztecs will return to Viejas Arena at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow, where they will play the Wyoming Cowgirls.
E N T E R TA I N M E N T Check out the great concerts coming to San Diego this month.
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OPINION
MEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
JAN
FEB
24 at Wyoming 6:30 p.m. MT 28 at Colorado State 2 p.m. PT
1 Boise State 7 p.m. PT 4 TCU 7 p.m. PT 11 at UNLV 1 p.m. PT 15 New Mexico 7 p.m. PT
MAR 18 at Air Force 2 p.m. MT 22 Wyoming 7:30 p.m. PT 25 Colorado State 7 p.m. PT 29 at Boise State 8 p.m. MT
3 at TCU 6 p.m. CT 8-10 Mountain West Conference Tournament TBA
In 1964, Harlem and Rochester erupted ... The sickness lion roared North, South, East West, Hell. B A C K PA G E
WO M E N ’S B AS K E T B A L L S C H E D U L E
JAN
FEB
24 Wyoming 7:30 p.m. PT 28 Colorado State noon PT
1 at Boise State 6 p.m. PT 4 TCU noon PT 11 UNLV 2 p.m. PT 15 New Mexico 6 p.m. PT
MAR 18 Air Force 2 p.m. PT 21 at Wyoming 5 p.m. PT 25 at Colorado State 1 p.m. PT 29 at Boise State 7 p.m. PT
8-10 Mountain West Conference Tournament TBA
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W E AT H E R : SHOWERS HIGH: 59 LOW: 44 SUNSET: 5:12 PM