Jan. 10, 2000
By BERNIE WILSON
AP Sports Writer
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Junior center Nate Althoff scored a career-high 20 points and the Utah Utes used a 26-5 run toward a 70-55 win over San Diego State in the Mountain West Conference opener for both teams on Monday night.
The Utes (12-3) had no trouble getting their ninth straight win over the Aztecs (5-9), even though leading scorer Hanno Mottola sat out more than 14 minutes of the second half with foul trouble.
He finished with just four points, 20 under his average. Alex Jensen scored 18.
Earlier Monday, Utah dropped out of The Associated Press Top 25 due to a 20-point loss at Louisville on Thursday night. San Diego State lost its third straight game as well as its third straight conference opener.
This was the first meeting between the teams since Utah coach Rick Majerus turned down an offer last March to coach San Diego State. The Aztecs then hired Steve Fisher, who took Michigan to three Final Fours, winning the national championship in 1989 as interim coach.
Majerus is 17-1 against San Diego State since taking over at Utah before the 1989-90 season.
The last time these teams met, Utah beat the Aztecs by 48 points, their worst loss ever.
Utah's biggest lead in Monday's game was 25 points following its 26-5 run that spanned halftime. Althoff had two 3-point plays and a field goal as Utah went from 18-14 ahead to 37-19 at halftime, including scoring the last five points of the half.
The Utes then scored the first seven points of the second half, taking a 44-19 lead following a 3-point shot and a layup by Jensen and two free throws by Althoff.
Althoff's previous career-high was 14 in a win against Arkansas State on Nov. 16.
The closest the Aztecs got the rest of the way was 54-43 with 8:22 left following back-to-back shots by Danny Abramowitz, including a 3-pointer.
Myron Epps scored 16 for San Diego State and Marcelo Correa had 13.