SALT LAKE CITY – The seas in which it sails are troubled, the territory in which it finds itself relatively uncharted.
And if San Diego State's men's basketball team is to find its feet, it has little time to lose in locating a foothold.
The Aztecs, who seldom win here but rarely endure the kind of slump in which they are currently mired, dropped their third straight for the first time in 94 games yesterday, falling to Utah 72-66.
Before 14,653, on a day on which Utah honored its all-century team, SDSU lost for the 28th time in 30 visits to the Huntsman Center.
DOUGLAS C. PIZAC / Associated Press
Utah's Luka Drca (5) tries to bat the ball out of the hands of San Diego State's Lorrenzo Wade.
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And the most recent visit was no less maddening than the last.
The Aztecs (16-9, 6-5 Mountain West), who a year ago here were victimized by a career-high 30 points from exiting senior Ricky Johns, yesterday raced out to a 11-0 lead while holding the Utes scoreless for the first 6:38.
SDSU had four players finish in double figures. Its intensity as opposed to Wednesday's meeting with New Mexico was twofold. It held Utah's third-leading scorer, junior forward Shaun Green, to three points. It shot 44.4 percent from three-point range, 16 percent better than it has shot beyond the arc all season.
And with five games remaining, three on the road, it fell further into arrears at a time when the clock is ticking like a gong.
“We did enough good things to be in the game, we did enough good things to win, but we didn't do one more thing so we could get a win,” said coach Steve Fisher. “We were much better than we were against TCU (a week earlier), much better than we were against New Mexico at home, and yet it still goes down as our third straight loss. The bottom line in this game is about finding a way to win, and we weren't able to do that.”
They weren't able to do it largely because of gaps in the defense that allowed Utah guards Lawrence Borha (game-high 22 points) and Johnnie Bryant (17 points) to get to the rim with little resistance. Borha was also trouble beyond the arc, hitting 3-of-4 three-pointers to exceed the 20-point mark for the third time this season.
Utah's free-throw shooting also played a substantial role. SDSU, which entered the contest shooting nearly 72 percent from the foul line was no match for the Utes (15-8, 6-4), who were 24-of-27 (83.3 percent) from the stripe. The Aztecs, who trailed by six when they lost starting freshman forward Billy White to his fifth foul with 2:45 left, were 16-of-21 from the line.
“They got into the lane and got way too many easy looks, too many layups,” said junior forward Lorrenzo Wade, who finished with 16 points. “You know that Borha is going to try and get to the basket, and we didn't do a good enough job of plugging up the lane. That was our downfall. If we do a better job there, we win the game. But that's starting to sound like a broken record.”
SDSU, which trailed 28-26 at the break, opened the second half much like the first, staging an 11-2 run behind the shooting of freshman point guard D.J. Gay and senior guard Matt Thomas. Fisher, who elected to start Gay and Thomas in place of juniors Richie Williams and Kelvin Davis, was rewarded in kind. Gay, who was 6-of-7 from the floor, including a 5-of-6 performance from three-point range, finished with a career-high 21 points, while Thomas had a season-high 10.
Davis, meanwhile, who had been starting for suspended forward Kyle Spain, failed to score for the second straight game. Williams was also shut out, going 0-for-4 from the floor.
Junior center Ryan Amoroso (11 points) finished in double figures for the fifth time in six games, but it was not enough to turn back the Utes, who erased a seven-point deficit with 17:07 left by outscoring the Aztecs 24-11 over the course of the next 11 minutes.
“I'll be perfectly honest with you,” Wade said. “This is the first time I've been part of any basketball team that has lost three games in a row. We gave Utah a run for its money, and you can't hang your head, but the bottom line is that this game is measured by wins and losses.”
Other MWC games
Trent Plaisted scored 22 points to lead Brigham Young to a 74-48 win over UNLV, pushing the Cougars' home winning streak to 44 games.
J.R. Giddens scored 25 points and Jonathan Wills had six during a 19-0 run to open the second half as New Mexico beat Texas Christian 64-48, keeping the Horned Frogs winless in their last six trips to Albuquerque.
Andrew Henke scored a career-high 19 points and Air Force snapped a three-game slide, beating visiting Wyoming 72-66.
Mick McGrane: (619) 293-1850; mick.mcgrane@uniontrib.com
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
