The San Diego State men's basketball team trailed a very good Wichita State team by a point in the second half of Saturday night's game when the homestanding Aztecs burst into a 14-0 run that extended to 21-3, and SDSU won 83-69.
That 14-0 spree covered 1:11 of game time and wasn't simply getting on a hot spell from behind the arc or something. It was a stifling pressing defense that caused steals and blocks that led to fast breaks and dunks. As an old-timer myself, it reminded me of one of college basketball's great phenomenon's, Phi Slamma Jamma of the University of Houston. Those teams back in the early 1980s featured two players who went on to become greats in the NBA, Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. The supporting cast was darn good, too, and they'd go on these dunk-fest runs that would blow good teams right out of the gym. The Aztecs, for a little over a minute last night, were as close to Phi Slamma Jamma as I've seen since. The physical domination ignited the greatest crowd response at Viejas Arena since the NIT quarterfinal win over St. Mary's two seasons ago.
SDSU still has a number of challenges ahead, including a fire-and-ice Cal team in Berkeley and two other undefeated Mountain West Conference rivals, BYU and UNLV. But if the Aztecs can bottle that 1:11 and uncork it when necessary, then this is going to be a heck of a year.
By the way, get your tickets now. The last two home games were sold out. I suspect tickets will be snapped up quickly for the rest of the weekend games, plus weeknight games vs good opponents.
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I'm not sure this is what Holiday Bowl officials had in mind when they created the Poinsettia Bowl a few years ago, but for the third season in a row, the newer post-season college football game in San Diego is going to show up big brother.
Two years ago, Boise State and TCU brought thousands of fans and one loss between them and engaged in a thrilling one-point game, that was the Broncos last setback until the shocker in Reno the day after this Thanksgiving. That same year, Oregon and Oklahoma State engaged in a Holiday Bowl scorefest that was pretty interesting but nowhere near as well-played as the earlier game, with the Cowboys appearing to be in meltdown mode.
Last year, it appeared that the Holiday Bowl had the upper hand with upstart Arizona taking on Nebraska, after the Cornhuskers might have had a Big 12 championship stolen from them by poor officiating. No, Nebraska dominated in a snoozer, coming a week after Utah beat Cal in a pretty good Poinsettia Bowl.
This year, San Diego State-Navy on Dec. 23 looks a heck of a lot more interesting than Missouri against Washington, which qualified for a bowl game with a 6-6 record and had to defeated sad-sack Washington State by a touchdown to do so. Holiday Bowl officials, in their hearts, rooted for a Cougars upset so they could go outside the Pac-10 and get Notre Dame. No luck. I think highly of Missouri as a team, and there was some high-quality conversation between Aztecs and Tigers fans when their teams played back in September, but you have to figure they're not going to be thrilled coming here after their season started with such promise. And Washington is as good as its record. As much as luck took up residence in the Holiday Bowl from the beginning of its existence, good fortune appears to have migrated to the Poinsettia Bowl.
Sunday evening edit: and it will be Nebraska instead of Missouri.
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