By BERNIE WILSON, AP Sports Writer
January 7, 2003
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Steve Fisher was proud that his San Diego State Aztecs were within four points of Texas Tech at halftime. He even told them they were playing like a championship team.
Fisher never saw a glimpse of that team again. The Aztecs committed five turnovers within the first five minutes of the second half and No. 23 Texas Tech went on a 16-4 run en route to a 75-63 win Monday night.
Kasib Powell scored 22 points and Nick Valdez added a season-high 21 points off the bench for the Red Raiders.
``We wilted under the pressure of Texas Tech's defense,'' Fisher said. ``We got beat up bad in the second half. That's an understatement and an obvious statement.''
Texas Tech scored the first 10 points of the second half. After the Red Raiders turned three San Diego State turnovers into six points in just 42 seconds, Fisher called timeout.
``I told the kids at the timeout, `You know your defense is scoring, not your offense,''' Texas Tech coach Bob Knight said. ``Our getting the lead in the second half was probably as well as we played defensively all year.''
It was the second straight season that Knight's Red Raiders beat Fisher's Aztecs. Knight improved to 12-6 against Fisher, with all but the most recent two games coming when they were rivals in the Big Ten, Knight at Indiana and Fisher at Michigan. Knight has won four straight against Fisher in the matchup of coaches with national championships.
Andre Emmett started Tech's 10-0 run when he scored off a rebound, Ross had two straight baskets and Valdez had a steal and a layup, and two free throws.
San Diego State didn't make its first basket of the second half until Tony Bland hit a bank shot with 13:59 left to make it 52-40.
``We did things in a panic mode,'' Fisher said. ``Defense can create that stress for you. Rather than saying, `OK, we can do it,' It was, `I have to do it.'''
The Red Raiders (10-1) head into Big 12 Conference play on a five-game winning streak. San Diego State (8-4) had its six-game winning streak snapped.
``One of the things we told the players was we wanted something to end up the non-conference season that would really test us,'' Knight said. ``We wanted a tough game and that's what we got.''
Valdez has started twice this season, but wasn't among the starting five Monday night. He entered after 1:19 and played the rest of the game. Valdez had 13 points in the first half.
Emmett, Texas Tech's leading scorer with a 22.6-point average, had 16.
Bland scored 13 for San Diego State and Mike Mackell 11.
San Diego State committed its 10th turnover of the second half with 11:35 to play, and had 13 over the final 20 minutes to finish with a season-high 24.
Updated on Tuesday, Jan 7, 2003 4:42 am, EST
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