Cox Collapse

Not an

Impressive

Turnout last night at Cox Arena, was it?  Less than 10K.

Nasty
Interruption of the Aztecs' offense
Turns the game from good to bad in the last 15 minutes.

Nowhere to go now, 

It's over for SDSU's NCAA dreams unless they win the MWC
Tournament.

Last night's pratfall, collapse, giveaway, choke job, whatever you want to call it, SDSU's 69-59 loss to BYU is a damning statement against the Aztecs and their chances to fulfill their senior dreams and make the Big Dance.  With four seniors on their home floor, the Aztecs built a 14-point lead over the Cougars, had them completely shut down, and then got blasted out of their own gym 38-14 over the last 15 minutes.  Dave Rose's good-but-not-great BYU team leaves the mini-elimination game with a road victory, just the 4th such win against a top-6 Mountain West Conference team all season.  

How did it happen?  Well, it was simple, really.  When the Cougars tried to run with SDSU, they were in trouble.  But when they packed into their 2-3 zone, which they did throughout the second half, the Aztecs' old, persistent problems were exposed.

No reliable outside shooters.  

No classic post scorer.

Poor decision making and ballhandling.

Offensive set after offensive set saw SDSU get bogged down in the corner, trapped on the wing, forced to hoist up a bad shot, the ball in the hands of a player outside his scoring zone with the clock winding down, like Ammo outside the arc or Wade in traffic.  Nine second half turnovers followed, as the Aztecs started pressing and their decision-making worsened.  A senior-laden team, yes, but these old dogs are still up to their old tricks.  

Revisiting yesterday's keys to the game: 

1) SDSU was excellent defending Lee Cummard, who was 3-12 shooting and stuck on 9 points and 5 rebounds, just one offensive rebound, which is why they should have won the game. 

2) the defense was just OK on defending the secondary break, and while BYU was 7-20 from 3-point range, they also missed some open looks.  

3) DJ Gay and Amoroso combined for an All-Ammo total of 10 points, while Fredette's 28 points, 20 in the 2nd half, won the game for BYU (Miles added 2 for a total of 30).  Gay adds another awful 0-5, zero point performance to a string of futility, while Fredette tears the Aztecs apart from outside and driving to the hoop.  

4) Who stepped up?  The question is as much, who stepped down?  Shelton jumped into the fray for 13 points, but Richie sputtered to a 2-point, foul-out performance and the bench was 1-7, 2 points for the game.  

Where does this leave the Aztecs of 2009?  Well, unless this group of seniors can deliver three straight days of sound performance, unless they can win back-to-back games where they aren't the favorite in Las Vegas, unless they can beat UNLV on their home court AGAIN with everything on the line...well, go back to the top of the column again and take a second look.  You'll know where it leaves the Aztecs.  It's

Not all that pretty and

It's not the

Tournament this team wanted to play in this season.