Jan. 14, 2002
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San Diego State (10-5/0-1)
at Utah (11-3/1-0)
Monday, January 14, 2002
7:00 p.m. MST/6:00 p.m. PST
Huntsman Center (15,000)
Salt Lake City, Utah
Tip Time: 7:05 p.m. MST
Television: Channel 4 San Diego. Chris Marlowe (play-by-play) and John Kentera (analyst).
Radio: XTRA AM-690 in San Diego. Jim Stone (play-by-play) and Dave Marcus (producer).
The Records: San Diego State is 10-5 after losing for just the second time in eight games, a 75-64 loss at Brigham Young on Saturday. Utah improved to 11-3 overall, winning for the eighth straight time, an 86-63 win over UNLV on Saturday.
SDSU Coach Steve Fisher: Fisher (Illinois State '67) is in his third season at San Diego State with a record of 29-42. Now in his 11th full season he has amassed a 213-124 mark. Fisher led Michigan to the 1989 national championship and made three trips to the national championship game in his eight full seasons in Ann Arbor. The 1991-92 national coach of the year led the Aztecs to a 14-14 mark last year.
Utah Coach Rick Majerus: Majerus (Marquette '70) is in his 13th season at Utah and 18th season as a head coach. He is 273-76 at the helm of the Utes and has compiled a 372-128 career mark. Majerus and the Utes advanced to the national championship game in 1998.
The Series: Utah and San Diego State are playing for the 49th time, with the Utes owning a 40-8 series advantage. Utah has won 12 straight in the series with the Aztecs last victory over Utah coming on Jan. 22, 1994. Utah has won 23 of the 24 games when the Utes are the home team. The Aztecs lone victory in Salt Lake City was on Feb. 25, 1982, a 74-72 win.
Aztecs Look for Beehive State Split, Play final Road Game of the Month on Monday at Utah
San Diego State (10-5/0-1 Mountain West Conference), looks to rebound from its first loss of the new year against 2001 Mountain West Conference tri-champion Utah (11-3/1-0) on Monday evening at the Jon. M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.
On Saturday, the Aztecs had a three-game winning streak snapped in a 75-64 defeat at Brigham Young. Senior forward Randy Holcomb recorded his third consecutive double-double and the ninth of the season with a game-high 21 points and 11 rebounds. It was just the second loss in the last eight games for the Aztecs, which lost to unranked foe for the first time since Dec. 5th.
Brigham Young led 39-32 at intermission and expanded the lead to 17 at 54-37 with 12:04 left. The Aztecs used a 15-5 run to close the gap and pulled to within four points with 3:18 to play, but could get no closer.
It is the third consecutive road game for the Aztecs, which will not play another road contest until February. Following the game the Aztecs open a four-game homestand against Colorado State on Saturday. This is also the second meeting for the Aztecs against one of the 2001 Mountain West Conference regular season tri-champions. San Diego State will play all three teams that tied for the league title in its first four conference games of the season.
Utah won its eighth straight game Saturday with an 86-63 victory over UNLV at the Huntsman Center. The Utes won for the ninth time in 10 home games this season and extended their NCAA best home court conference win streak to 45 with the win over the Rebels.
Utah, which leads the series 40-8, has won 12 straight over the Aztecs and 21 of the last 22 meetings between the teams. San Diego State's last win in the series was a 76-73 decision at Peterson Gym on Jan. 22, 1994. Utah has won 23 of the 24 games in Salt Lake City, including 19 straight. The Aztecs lone win in the Olympic city came on Feb. 25, 1982 by a 74-72 count.
On the Line * - San Diego State has responded to its last seven defeats by winning the next contest. The Aztecs average margin of victory in the game following its last seven losses has been 18.0 points.
* - The Aztecs have gone 21 games without losing two in a row. That is the longest stretch of games without dropping two in a row since the Aztecs went 35 straight games without consecutive defeats from Dec. 19, 1977 to Jan. 12, 1979.
* - The Aztecs average margin of victory in the game following its last seven losses has been 18.0 points.
* - Senior forward Randy Holcomb leads the Mountain West Conference in both scoring (18.3) and rebounding (9.9). A native of Chicago, Ill., Holcomb is tied for 20th nationally in rebounds per game and has recorded double-doubles in three straight games.
* - For the seven seasons from 1993-94 to 1998-99, San Diego State had an average RPI of 190. Last season, the Aztecs jumped to 154 in the final RPI and this season, as of Sunday, San Diego State was 47 in the RPI.
* - Through Saturday's games, San Diego State ranked 14th nationally in field goal percentage at 48.8 percent (Villanova leads the nation at 51.3 percent). The Aztecs have shot better than 50 percent from the floor in four of the last six games.