KALAMAZOO, Mich. – An ugly mole suddenly protruded on San Diego State University's unblemished season in an 84-73 defeat to Western Michigan University here yesterday.
The Aztecs (8-1) fell victim to sloppy play and tundralike shooting in the second half, contributing to the team's first loss this season. The loss ended at 13 games a winning streak (excluding an NCAA Tournament loss to Indiana) that started last season.
The Broncos (3-4) parlayed 22 Aztecs turnovers into 21 points, with WMU's 5-foot-9 guard Andre Ricks pouring in a game-high 29 points.
An 11-2 second-half spurt by WMU with seven minutes left contributed to SDSU's undoing. The Aztecs led by seven when the Mid-American Conference school went on its run.
“When you go on the road and you don't play well, you probably don't have much of a chance to win. We still had a chance,” said SDSU coach Steve Fisher, who was an assistant coach at Western Michigan for three years starting in 1979.
“We succumbed to the stress of the crowd, the opponent. We were worried more about things we didn't have control over, and it hurt.”
Mohamed Abukar's team-high 17 points weren't enough to save the Aztecs, who host Arizona on Saturday.
Brandon Heath, whose heroics proved pivotal in Wednesday's victory over USD, was a shadow of himself.
He was an anemic 4-of-16 from the floor, including a glaring 2-of-8 on three-point attempts. The senior guard, who'd been averaging 20.9 points per game, finished with 13.
“Everybody has a bad game,” said Heath, who needs four points to pass Anthony Watson (1983-86) as SDSU's second all-time leading scorer. “You have to make sure one bad game doesn't become two bad games.”
The team's 22 turnovers were particularly uncharacteristic as SDSU averaged 15 miscues during its eight-game winning streak.
With 6:47 left, WMU's Andrew Hershberger's steal off SDSU's Jerome Habel sparked the winning rally. A Richie Williams turnover led to WMU's go-ahead basket by Shawntes Gary with 4:28 left.
Heath's air ball with 36 seconds left aptly summed up the Aztecs' shooting struggles.
In the first half, SDSU had 10 turnovers resulting in 11 WMU points. The Broncos led 44-39 at intermission.
Ricks, who led WMU with 13 first-half points, hit two three-point shots in the second half.
“It was something I wasn't hoping to see,” Fisher said about WMU's guard. “I watched him against Marist (89-78 WMU loss Nov. 26) and where they went on a 10-point run. Players are players, and he (Ricks) is a player.”
