SAN DIEGO • To have a chance to beat San Diego State on Tuesday night, Air Force needed to avoid a slow start, protect the ball and keep the Aztecs off the offensive glass.

The Falcons did none of those things, and the result was a 70-48 loss in front of an announced crowd of 6,126 at Viejas Arena. While the name of the building has been changed (from Cox Arena), the results here for Air Force remain the same. The Falcons have lost five straight at the venue by a combined 95 points.

Air Force fell to 9-12 and 1-7 in Mountain West Conference play, while San Diego State — which had four players in double-figures — improved to 16-6, 5-3.

San Diego State scored 23 points off 15 Air Force turnovers and grabbed 15 offensive rebounds en route to 15 second-chance points.

“That’s 38 points,” freshman guard Michael Lyons said. “So that’s the game right there.”

The Falcons also were hurt by a dreadful start.

Nearly 9 minutes into the game, Aztec fans were chanting “Shutout.” Air Force missed its first nine shots, committed four turnovers and fell behind 12-0 before finally breaking the drought when Evan Washington scored on a put-back with 10:15 left in the half.

Air Force got to within six points, after senior Grant Parker (team-high 14 points) hit 3-pointers on the Falcons’ first two possessions of the second half to cut the Aztecs’ lead to 28-22. Air Force had a chance to get closerc, but committed a turnover, and San Diego State quickly ran its lead back to 10 points.

San Diego State, which shot 29 percent in the first half, hit 63.6 percent of its shots in the second.

“And the shots that they missed, they got the rebound,” Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said.

Air Force freshman Mike Fitzgerald hit a 3-pointer to make it 34-27 with just more than 15 minutes left, but San Diego State’s D.J. Gay drained 3-pointers on back to back possessions and the Aztecs led by double-figures the rest of the game.

Tuesday’s game was Air Force’s third on the road in 11 days.

“It’s been a tough stretch, but that’s what this league’s about,” Reynolds said.

San Diego State’s Malcolm Thomas tried to move past Air Force’s Evan Washington during the first half Tuesday night. Photo by AP PHOTO