The first time it became apparent that perhaps the San Diego State University basketball team was out of its element was just before tipoff, when an announcement came over the Huntsman Center loudspeaker that a Subaru needed to be moved. It had slipped out of gear and had rolled into the street, where it was blocking traffic.
Several of the Aztecs acted as if they wanted to go outside and see if it was theirs.Actually, that's not true. But if it had been true, and if the car had belonged to the Aztecs, it wouldn't have been the worst thing that's gone wrong this season. Last night's stop in Salt Lake to play nationally ranked University of Utah was another in a long string of efforts to prove that Murphy was right. Everything can go wrong.
Utah's ensuing 78-53 win was further evidence of that. The 25-point setback not only tied as the Atecs' worst shellacking of the year - alongside three other quarter-century defeats - but also extended their WAC losing streak to 24 straight games and their losing streak to Div. I opponents to 33 in a row.
Another streak of local interest was also extended: San Diego State has now gone 11 straight years without winning in Salt Lake.
Tony Fuller, San Diego State's 34-year-old first-year coach, wasn't encouraged even before the game began. The worst his team had looked all year was a week ago in San Diego against a New Mexico team that jumped on the Aztecs and led 40-10 before coasting to a 77-52 win.
"And New Mexico came here and lost by 30, right?" he said.
Actually it was 33.
"Utah's tops," said Fuller. "They're in the top three against us, along with New Mexico and Washington State, who also beat us pretty bad."
Fuller suspected it could have been worse last night.
"I mean it could have really gotten ugly," he said. "I'd like to commend Coach Majerus on his substituting, and for not looking to score so much at the end. That's a class act."
Along the way to their current 4-12 record this season (all four wins against sub-Div. I schools), Fuller and the Aztecs have seen acts less than class.
"Most of them," he said. "The subs at the end want to score, and the crowd wants hamburgers or something."
Majerus - whose 14-2 Utes have a record virtually the flip-side of the Aztecs - said he has no desire to rub a loss in anyone's face. Billy Tubbs is not his idol.
And besides, he's been where the Aztecs have been.
"Ball State my first year," he said, jogging his memory. "We went to Purdue and lost by 40. I remember calling timeouts and the refs getting upset. We were down 44. I said I'd rather lose by 40 than 44.
"We came back the next year and won by eight I think it was. What goes around comes around. I really believe that."
Majerus's graciousness extended to complimenting the Aztecs on "playing a hard game. I'll tell you, there's no quit in that team," and in predicting that "this team will win a couple in the WAC this year. I'll take bets on that. I just hope we're not one of them."
Such talk was of little solace to Fuller after the game, who wasn't sure if he agreed with the Ute coaches' appraisal. He slumped against the wall outside his team's locker room and unbuttoned his stylish first-year coaches' suit.
"We're at a point where we measure our success in effort, in how hard we play," he said. "I wasn't satisfied with our effort tonight. I don't know. Thursday (a 12-point loss to BYU) was the best we've played."
He said he wasn't going to crack the whip for a few days, however. He would give his team a couple of days off. "To think about what we're doing, about what we want to do," he said.
"You can't continue to beat 'em and pound 'em."
The opposition is doing enough of that.
Meanwhile, Majerus was sizing up his 22nd-ranked Utes, saying, as usual, they're not as good as everyone might think they are.
"I know really good teams," he said. "This team's OK. I hope we get to the end of the season without exposing our weaknesses."
What he said was the truth, no doubt, but, still, there was a team heading for the parking lot wondering just what those weaknesses might be.