By Jerry LawsonAsst. Sports Editor
The road may get even bumpier this Sunday for the San Diego Statemen’s basketball team when it travels to Stillwater, Okla. to faceNo. 17 Oklahoma State.
“We have to play smart and play hard,” said SDSU head coach SteveFisher.
The Aztecs are coming off a 73-45 pounding, compliments of theUniversity of San Diego. In that game, SDSU only shot 29 percent fromthe field.
Shooting has been a problem for the Aztecs since the beginning.The team has combined to shoot .383 from the field and .114 frombehind the three-point arc.
SDSU guard David Ambramowitz said one thing the team has to do isget the ball to its starting center Marcelo Correa more.
“He’s the one we’ve got to go to,” Abramowitz said. “He’s our bigguy. He’s our leader. He needs to get going, and we will follow hislead.”
What ails the Aztecs the most, though, are their offensive dryspells that seem to hit them the hardest at the most inopportunetimes. Against UC Riverside, SDSU suffered a dry spell of two pointsin nearly five minutes of play.
“We’re just not being tough enough mentally, coming into thesecond half,” Correa said, “and that has repeated itself in all ofour games so far.”
On the road, it has even gotten drier. The Aztecs could onlymuster four points in the last 8:19 of the first half against NewMexico State, and only 10 points in the first 10 minutes of thesecond half against USD.
“Coming into the second half it just seems like we are tired,”Correa said. “Mentally we’re being affected some how.”
If that wasn’t bad enough, SDSU hasn’t won a road game in its last17 attempts. And as far as the Cowboys are concerned, they are simplyon fire right now. The team has started the season with a perfect 6-0record.
Oklahoma State head coach Eddie Sutton has coached the Cowboys toseven NCAA Tournament appearances in the last nine years, includingthree Sweet 16 appearances and a 1995 Final Four appearance.
The Aztecs aren’t worried, though. Correa said SDSU just has tokeep working hard and it will find a way out of the slump.
“We have a lot of good players out there,” he said. “We just haveto figure out a way to play together and keep our minds in the games.We will find a way to put it together. I have no doubt in my mind.”
The last time the Aztecs faced off against Oklahoma State was in1979 in a game that saw plenty of offense. SDSU won a 104-100shootout in the San Diego Sports Arena, with Tony Gwynn scoring 15points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
The Aztecs won’t be able to look to Gwynn to help them in the gameagainst the Cowboys, but it can look to Correa. Fisher said one ofthe ways the team can remedy its scoring woes is by getting the ballto the junior more.
“He needs to have the ball in his hands more often,” Fisher said.”He is a capable scorer.”
