Feb. 12, 2001
By BERNIE WILSON
AP Sports Writer
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Trent Whiting hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:14 left and Brigham Young got its first road win this season by beating the staggering San Diego State Aztecs 69-66 Monday night.
Whiting scored five of Brigham Young's final seven points and tied teammate Mekeli Wesley with a game-high 21.
BYU (17-7, 6-3 Mountain West Conference) won for the fourth time in five games. San Diego State (11-11, 1-8) seemed to be on its way to avenging one of its worst losses this year, a 29-point defeat at Provo on Jan. 13. Instead, the Aztecs dropped to .500 for the first time this season. They had been 10-3 going into conference play.
BYU, which trailed most of the game, hadn't scored in nearly two minutes when Whiting swished a 3-pointer from the left side for a 65-63 lead. He hit two free throws with 17.2 seconds to go, and Wesley made two more with 4.4 seconds left to make it 69-63. San Diego State's Al Faux hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
There were five lead changes in the final 5:06.
Both teams were near-perfect from the free throw line. The Cougars made all 18 free throws in the second half and finished 19-of-20. San Diego State made all 11 of its free throws in the second half and finished 15-of-16.
Marcelo Correa was near-perfect in scoring a season-high 18 points for the Aztecs, going 5-of-6 from the field and making all eight free throws. Faux scored 15 points and Randy Holcomb 13.
While the Cougars blew out the Aztecs in the game at Provo, they fell behind in the opening minutes in this one and trailed by eight points early in the second half.
The Cougars gradually closed the gap, getting consecutive 3-pointers from Whiting and tying it at 48 on Nate Knight's layup with 10:14 to go.
The Cougars got their first lead since the opening two minutes when Whiting made two free throws with 7:53 to go to make it 52-50.