Aztecs Rebound And Rebound : College basketball: SDSU gets 63 boards--26 on offense--in a 95-83 road victory at Wyoming.

As far as theater goes, this wasn’t bad.

After getting off to a wacky start on a rare one-game road trip, San Diego State’s excellent adventure ended here Saturday afternoon with an unexpected blowout of Wyoming, 95-83, in front of a crowd of 9,365 in Arena-Auditorium. Then, in the locker room afterward, they dedicated this victory to SDSU Coach Jim Brandenburg and his father.

Ray Brandenburg, Jim’s dad, passed away four years ago. Ray is buried in Cheyenne, Wyo., and his name is on a list of World War II veterans on the wall in War Memorial Fieldhouse, the Cowboys’ former gymnasium.

Jim Brandenburg told the team the story before the game. After the victory, the Aztecs told him of their dedication. After which, Brandenburg said . . .

“Nothing,” SDSU center Marty Dow said. “He just stood there and looked at all of us.”

Said guard Arthur Massey: “I think being back in Wyoming, he started thinking about it.”

SDSU (11-14, 6-9) set an Arena-Auditorium record with 63 rebounds, surpassing Wyoming’s old mark of 57, set in 1982. SDSU grabbed 26 offensive rebounds, 37 defensive. All of these numbers are SDSU season highs. Dow led the way with 16 rebounds, and Keith Balzer had 14.

The Aztecs clinched their best WAC record since 1985-86, when they went 7-9. They won their second WAC road game of the year, the first time they’ve won more than one conference road game since 1984-85. And Brandenburg won in Laramie for the first time since leaving the Cowboys’ coaching job four years ago.

What a trip. The wackiness started earlier this week when SDSU suddenly discovered that this would be an afternoon game. The Aztecs thought it was a 7:30 start until their hotel called and wondered why they had a pre-game meal scheduled for Saturday afternoon. Whoops.

Then forward Joe McNaull got conked in the nose during practice here Friday. SDSU trainer Mark Haines figures the nose is cracked, but it won’t be X-rayed until the team returns to San Diego.

Wacky? Cue the Twilight Zone theme. At a steakhouse Friday night after practice, Brandenburg looked up and saw that his waitress was Johanna Dees, daughter of Wyoming Coach Benny. We are not making this up.

All the while, Brandenburg shook hands until his arm seemed ready to fall off. At practice, at dinner, the folks of Laramie approached, arms extended.

But by the time SDSU returns a week from Tuesday for the WAC tournament, folks likely won’t be so hospitable. The Aztecs--now tied with Hawaii again for sixth--seized their Cowboys by the throat and wouldn’t let go.

SDSU scored a season-high 55 second-half points. They trailed just once, led by 12 at halftime, 40-28, and by as many as 17 in the second half. Wyoming (17-9, 7-7) was zero-for-10 from three-point range in the first half and finished six for 32 (19%). Overall, Wyoming made 31 of 87 field goal attempts (36%). SDSU was 32 for 68 (47%).

Ray Barefield held Maurice Alexander, the WAC’s fifth-leading scorer, without a point in the first half. Alexander finished with 14, but only after hitting four desperation three-pointers in the final 4 1/2 minutes. Thanks to those three-pointers, Wyoming rallied but could come no closer than six, 76-70.

“We needed (the victory) badly,” Brandenburg said. “We lost in overtime two nights ago, and the guys were tired. They gutted it out.”

The Aztecs played what might have been their most inspired half of the season in the first half. They moved the ball around well and everyone contributed. When Wyoming called a timeout with 11:19 remaining in the half trailing, 21-14, seven different Aztecs had scored. Meanwhile, only Reggie Slater and Reggie Page had scored for Wyoming.

Wyoming switched to a zone from a man-to-man, but it didn’t matter. SDSU built the 12-point halftime lead and then came out with a 13-6 run to start the second half.

“We knew we had to re-establish ourselves in the first five minutes (of the second half), and it went beyond that,” Brandenburg said.

Four Aztecs reached double-figures-Massey (21 points), Dow (20), Balzer (16) and Chris McKinney (11). Slater, the only Cowboy who looked like he wanted to play, had 35 points and 12 rebounds.

“I’m afraid I’ve lost these kids already,” Dees said. “I don’t think I can get them back. They, as I am, are really frustrated.”