Glenn Connelly / Photo EditorHeading into the final game of the regular season, the San Diego State men’s basketball team had just one goal: Don’t get tripped up by the 9-19 Air Force Falcons.
On Saturday night in Colorado Springs, Colo., SDSU avoided the trap game and destroyed Air Force, 61-42.
“It’s a hard place to play, but we knew it was the last game of conference,” junior forward Malcolm Thomas said to The Mtn. after the game. “So we tried to keep the mindset of playing hard every play, and we tried to do that today.”
With the Mountain West Conference Tournament in Las Vegas kicking off in just a few days, some pundits were worried the Aztecs would overlook the Falcons, who had just one win in MWC play this season. But Thomas and freshman forward Kawhi Leonard made sure SDSU pulled out a win. The two both posted a team-high 18 points, while Leonard grabbed seven rebounds and Thomas tallied nine.
“In practice we talked about how their effort was going to be and how they were going to come out and play hard because they have a lot of seniors,” Thomas said to AM 600 KOGO after the game. “So we just had to match their effort. That was the main idea.”
The Aztecs played shorthanded again on Saturday. Sophomore guard Tyrone Shelley missed his second straight game with a broken thumb and freshman guard Chase Tapley sat out with a broken non-shooting hand. After the game, head coach Steve Fisher told AM 600 KOGO that Shelley would probably be back for the MWC Tournament, but Tapley’s “50-50” to play.
Because of the injuries, SDSU suited up team manager Ben Kneller again, and Leonard and junior guard D.J. Gay played 39 minutes and 40 minutes, respectively.
“We know that we have injuries and we know that we’re going to have to play hard because we have less guys,” Thomas said to AM 600 KOGO. “So everybody buys in to what we have to do and we just play hard, play in and play out.”
Just hours before the game, the Aztecs found out that whether they won or lost, they would take on Colorado State on Thursday in the first round of the MWC Tournament. Last week, SDSU beat down CSU, 68-55, at Viejas Arena.
“Colorado State is a handful,” Fisher said. “It will be our third game against them, second in two weeks. We won’t have to do a lot of remembering back. It’s going to be a quick turnaround and I think both teams will be ready to play, and I know we will.”
