Uh oh. You can feel it coming again, can’t you? San Diego has its own sports curse, and it looks like Aztec basketball is ready to unleash its deadly spell again this season. Promising starts and disappointing finishes have become the mantra. Sure, they’ve found a way to come from behind and post a few good wins, but it doesn’t appear to be the stuff that real turnarounds are made of. And while the season isn’t soup just yet, the Aztecs are going to have to turn up the heat if they want to participate in the post-season madness again this year.

After an impressive 2-0 start against BYU and UNLV at home, the Aztecs took to the road and lost a double-overtime game to Colorado State and followed it up with a routine loss at Wyoming. This smells a lot like last season, when the Aztecs started 2-0 in conference and then proceeded to lose 6 of the next 7 games.

Colorado State got healthy just in time for the Aztecs. Center Matt Nelson was in his second game back after suffering a knee injury and point guard Michael Morris was in his first game back. Those two players combined for 45 points and 20 rebounds in their victory over San Diego State. That long-winded loss probably doomed the Aztecs to lose in Wyoming just two days later. In another game at high altitude, the Aztecs just ran out of gas after getting off to a good start. Wyoming guard Jay Straight “Cowboyed up” from an off shooting night on Saturday to pour in a career-high 30 points and lead Wyoming to victory.

Coming home, the Aztecs had to face a surprising 14-2 Air Force team that was 4-0 in conference. The Aztecs let the cadets dictate the pace and eventually the game in a discouraging 57-43 loss. The Falcons shot 42% from beyond the arc where they tallied 33 of their overall points. In a slow, methodical game, the Aztecs shot poorly on fewer chances than normal and could never get their fast-break offense up and running.

When New Mexico came to town to finish off the two-game home-stand, it became a must-win for San Diego State. The Aztecs were down early, thanks to the 10-for-18 three-point shooting of the Lobos in the first half. For some reason, the Aztecs continue to double the ball down low and leave three-point shooters wide open. And yet another opponent took advantage of it. Go figure? For the most part, the Aztecs played respectably, but they still found themselves down by 3 at the break. But in a tale of two halves, the Aztecs tightened the defense on New Mexico’s shooters, pounded the ball inside, and limited their turnovers to just 9 for the game as they held on late to pull out a 74-68 victory. New Mexico extended their road game losing streak to 22 by night’s end.

Aerick Sanders was held in check by both Wyoming and Air Force in the team’s previous two games and was determined to ignite his offense against New Mexico. He did just that as he led all scorers with 27 points on 10-for-14 shooting. The Aztecs also got an unexpected gift by having Lobos starting center David Chiotti sit out due to a sprained ankle he injured just the day before. This made it easier for freshman Marcus Slaughter to gobble up 11 rebounds for the Aztecs to go along with 10 from Sanders.

This puts the Aztecs at 3-3 in conference, with 5 of the final 8 conference games to be played on the road. The Aztecs embark on the toughest road trip of the season as they go to Utah on Saturday and then BYU on Monday. The Aztecs have not won at Utah since 1982. Both Utah and BYU have outstanding home court records and die-hard fans. If the Aztecs can come away with a split, they’ll be delighted.