“Welcome to the Jungle” was echoing throughout Viejas Arena. The Aztec Warrior and the cheerleaders were in the tunnel with the S-D-S-U flags. The band was standing, ready to play the fight song. The students were on their feet.

The cheerleaders finally got tired of waiting and ran onto the court by themselves. The band shrugged and started to play.

It was an eerie premonition, the team not showing up.

Little Rock 49, San Diego State 43.


Blink, swallow, gasp and read that again.

Little Rock 49, SDSU 43.

Unless the school formerly known as Arkansas-Little Rock rips through the Sun Belt Conference and a couple rounds in the NCAA Tournament, this figures to rate among the worst losses in program history. The Aztecs had won 84 straight at home against teams that finished the season 100 or worse in the RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) that ranks all 351 Division I schools; Little Rock was 277th last season.

If you wondered what would happen if the Aztecs played against a low Div. I team like they did against a low NAIA team in Wednesday’s shaky 71-61 win here against San Diego Christian, we found out. They shoot 28.3 percent, score 19 points in the first half, have 16 turnovers in a low-possession game and lose.


It’s a scary thought: What happens Dec. 22 when No. 4 Kansas comes to Viejas Arena?

“We’ve got a lot of good players and terrific people, but we’re not playing very well right now,” coach Steve Fisher said. “We’re not capable of making critical plays when needed. We fought and fought and fought to stay in the game, but when one more play was needed, they made it and we didn’t.

“That’s the difference between having a really good team and an average team.”

This is how average they were: At one point late in the first half, Little Rock had shot five air balls … and led by 10.


And this: The Aztecs finished with three fewer baskets than turnovers.

And this: Seniors Winston Shepard, Skylar Spencer and Angelo Chol had zero points in a combined 63 minutes.

“We didn’t get a lot of points from many people,” Fisher said.

“We all had frustrating games,” Dakarai Allen said.


The Aztecs (2-2) scored on their opening possession when they got it inside to Shepard on the right block and he fed Jeremy Hemsley (11 points) for an open 3-pointer against a packed-in defense. On their third trip, Malik Pope hit a jumper from the right side.

And those were basically your offensive highlights until midway through the second half. The Aztecs would miss 12 of their next 13 shots, their next 10 straight behind the arc and three of their first four free throws. And the one thing they’ve relied on when they had these kinds of shooting nights, hard-nosed defense, wouldn’t bail them out, either. They forced zero Little Rock turnovers in the first half.

Some perspective:

“I think in 21 years of coaching,” Little Rock coach Chris Beard said, “I’ve only (had) one other team when we had zero turnovers at halftime.”


Little Rock (3-0) finally turned it over on the opening possession of the second half, a shot-clock violation. The Aztecs went to the other end, the crowd roaring, the students stomping, Viejas rocking … and gave it right back on a lazy pass by Pope.

Beard, in his first season at Little Rock, was smart. He watched tape of the Aztecs and quickly discerned two things: They like to run, and they can’t shoot.

So he purposely slowed the tempo, regularly taking the 30-second shot clock into single digits to reduce the game’s overall possessions and, consequently, SDSU’s margin of error. Sixteen turnovers are a lot under any circumstances but, as Fisher put it, “16 turnovers in a low-possession game is a killer.”

The other thing Beard did was switch defenses but with the same, packed-in, foot-in-the-paint, dare-you-to-shoot mentality. The Aztecs took the bait, launching 24 attempts (making just six) behind the arc. Midway through the second half, they were 2 of 16 – 1 of 15 after Hemsley made his 17 seconds after tip-off.


Walk-on Ben Perez finally made a 3 with 10:57 left to give SDSU its first lead since the opening minutes. The Trojans answered 28 seconds later with a left-handed layup by Jermaine Ruttley.

Perez hit another to put the Aztecs up 36-34. The Trojans answered, again 28 seconds later, with a jumper by Marcus Johnson Jr.

Perez hit another 3 with four minutes left for a 41-38 lead. The Trojans answered yet again – this time a short jumper by Josh Hagins (14 points) followed by a banked-in 3 by Hagins to make it 47-43 inside a minute to go.

“He’s a senior guard and he made some big plays,” Allen said. “One of those I had my hand in his face and he banked it in. If you want to win, you have to make big-time plays and he did.”


It really might have been ugly if the Trojans had actually shot well and blocked out. They were 18 of 51 (35.3 percent) and outrebounded 42-28, including just three offensive rebounds and none in the first half.

Next up for the Aztecs is a Monday home game against East Carolina, which is supposed to be better than Little Rock. It is, suddenly, a daunting proposition for the team picked to win the Mountain West.

“We need to treat this as a wake-up call,” Allen said. “But we can’t let this loss – even though it’s a bad loss on our home floor – lead to more losses. We still have a long season ahead of us.”

The question now: How long will it become?


Notes

The last time SDSU lost at home to such an unfancied opponent was Jan. 9, 2008, a 62-56 decision to Northern Colorado in just its second year of Div. I basketball … Little Rock ended SDSU’s 15-game home nonconference win streak … It was just the Aztecs’ eighth loss in their last 103 games at Viejas Arena … The student section was only half full for the 1 p.m. tip-off … SDSU’s bench scored 27 points. The starters scored 16 ...

This was a “non-bracketed” game in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational, meaning SDSU still will play in the marquee bracket against No. 15 Cal on Thanksgiving at the Orleans Arena … Shepard was playing for the first time since amassing 17 points and six rebounds in the second half at No. 16 Utah. Saturday’s line: zero points, 0 of 6 shooting, five rebounds, two assists, four turnovers in 26 minutes.