San Diego State overwhelms Air Force

SAN DIEGO • A possible explanation for the overcast skies, rain and chilly temperatures in typically sunny Southern California this weekend?

The Air Force men's basketball team came to town. And the dark cloud that's hovered over the team since the start of Mountain West Conference play came with it.

In front of an announced crowd of 9,116 at Cox Arena, the Falcons were sloppy, sluggish and blown out 65-34 by San Diego State in a game that, believe it or not, probably wasn't as close as the score indicated.

Playing without second-leading scorer Lorrenzo Wade (illness), San Diego State led by 19 at halftime and by 31 with 12 minutes to play.

With just less than 10 minutes left, the Aztecs' student section was chanting for seldom-used walk-on Bryan Horton to be sent into the game. And Horton was less than 2 minutes later.

The loss was Air Force's 10th in a row and 11th in its past 12 games. The Falcons, 9-13 overall and 0-9 in the MWC, have lost five league games by 21 points or more and their past three games by a combined 73.

San Diego State improved to 17-5 and 7-2 to remain in a tie with Utah for first in the conference.

"They're probably one of the most talented teams, if not the most talented, in the league," said sophomore guard Evan Washington, who had a team-high 10 points. "We still had breakdowns defensively and offensively."

Especially offensively. The Falcons made only 13-of-42 shots from the floor, including 3-of-15 from 3-point range, and 5-of-13 from the free-throw line. Air Force, which committed 19 turnovers, scored a season-low 34 points, its worst output since scoring 33 in a loss to BYU on Feb. 3, 2003. San Diego State's six turnovers were its fewest ever in MWC play.

San Diego State hit 3-pointers on each of its first three possessions and led 12-2 just 3:10 into the game. Air Force seemed ready to make a game of it after scoring five straight points to cut the Aztecs' lead to 12-7 with 14:28 left. But the Falcons made only three baskets the rest of the half.

And there was no break in the clouds in sight.

NOTES

Washington bounces back

One small bright spot for Air Force in its 65-34 loss to San Diego State was the play of guard Evan Washington. After playing a career-low 5 minutes in the previous game against BYU, the sophomore had a team-high 10 points and added five rebounds and three blocks in 25 minutes off the bench.

Sticking with the frosh

Coach Jeff Reynolds said Friday that he wasn't sure if he'd keep the same starting lineup he had against BYU because he wasn't sure he wanted to throw his freshmen into such a hostile environment.

But Reynolds ended up going with freshman guard Brandon Provost, senior guard Anwar Johnson, freshman forward Taylor Stewart, senior forward Matt Holland and freshman center Sammy Schafer again.

Clank

Air Force missed 8-of-13 from the free-throw line, including its first five. In the past five games, the Falcons are 37-of-74 from the line.

Etc.

Sophomore forward Tom Fow made the trip to San Diego, replacing sophomore center Phillip Brown. Fow, who was slow to recover from offseason knee surgery, saw his first action of the season in the second half. ... Freshman Shawn Hempsey, who went to nearby La Costa Canyon High School, made his first career 3-pointer in the first half.