Jan. 25, 2002
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UNLV (9-7/2-3) at
San Diego State (11-7/1-3)
Saturday, January 26, 2002
7:35 p.m. PST
Cox Arena at Aztec Bowl (12,414)
San Diego, Calif.
Promotion: Tony Gwynn Bobble Head Night. Each fan in attendance receives a Tony Gwynn Bobble Head.
Tip Time: 7:35 p.m. PST
Television: SportsWest (Channel 4 San Diego). Dave McCann (play-by-play) and Blaine Fowler (analyst).
Radio: XTRA AM-690 in San Diego. Jim Stone (play-by-play).
The Records: San Diego State is 11-7 and 1-3 in conference play after losing an 88-85 overtime decision to Wyoming on Monday night. UNLV improved to 9-7 overall and 2-3 in league action with a 75-68 victory over Colorado State on Monday night.
SDSU Coach Steve Fisher: Fisher (Illinois State '67) is in his third season at San Diego State with a record of 30-44. Now in his 11th full season he has amassed a 214-126 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.
UNLV Coach Charlie Spoonhour: Spoonhour (University of the Ozarks '61) has a 328-178 mark in his 17th season as a head coach at Southwest Missouri State, Saint Louis and UNLV. He is 9-7 in his first season with the Rebels.
The Series: UNLV leads the all-time series with San Diego State by a 21-5 count. The Aztecs snapped a nine-game Rebel winning streak with an 83-66 victory in Cox Arena last season. UNLV is 7-3 vs. SDSU in San Diego and the Aztecs have never won consecutive games against the Rebels.
Aztecs Continue Four-Game Homestand, Look to Defeat UNLV for a School-First Second Straight Time
San Diego State (11-7/1-3 Mountain West Conference), plays the third of four consecutive home games against UNLV (9-7/2-3) on Saturday night at Cox Arena, tip-off is set for 7:35 p.m. The game will be televised by SportsWest (Channel 4 San Diego) and will be broadcast by XTRA-AM 690.
On Monday, the Aztecs saw their nine-game, Cox Arena record win streak snapped with an 88-85 overtime loss to Wyoming. San Diego State led by as many as 14 points in the first half. The Cowboys rallied in the second half, and led by five points with 28 seconds remaining. But senior guard Al Faux canned two treys in between a Wyoming free throw, the second coming with less than five seconds left, to force overtime.
The Cowboys shot out to a six-point lead in the extra session and led by the same margin with 26 seconds remaining. But another trey from Faux, who finished with a game-high 26 points, followed by a steal and lay-up by Deandre Moore cut the Aztec deficit to one point with 16 seconds left.
Wyoming increased the lead to three and Faux's final three-point field goal of the night bounced off the back of the rim as time expired.
UNLV snapped a two-game losing streak with a 75-68 victory over Colorado State on Monday night. Following the game with the Aztecs, the Rebels play four of their next five games at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Saturday will mark the 27th meeting between San Diego State and UNLV, with the Rebels owning a 21-5 series advantage. The Aztecs snapped a nine-game Rebels winning streak in the series with an 83-66 victory in Cox Arena on Feb. 24. UNLV is 7-3 lifetime against the Aztecs in San Diego. The Aztecs are attempting to win consecutive games in the series for the first time in school history and defeat the Rebels in consecutive seasons for the first time since the 1965-66 and 1966-67 seasons.
On the Line
* - Despite shooting below 40 percent from the field against Wyoming, San Diego State remained among the national leaders in field goal percentage. In NCAA stats through Monday's games, the Aztecs were 19th in field goal percentage at 48.4 percent (Kansas is first at 50.5 percent).
* - Through nine home games this season, San Diego State has averaged 5,532 fans. That is well above the school-record average of 4,824 set during the 1981-82 campaign and is a 21.9 percent increase over last season. This season's attendance is an increase of 111.3 percent over Steve Fisher's first season (1999-2000).
* - San Diego State, which went just 1-23 in its first 24 Mountain West Conference games, has posted a 4-4 mark in the last eight games against league competition.
* - San Diego State has three of the top four scorers in the Mountain West Conference, Al Faux leads the league (18.6 ppg) and Randy Holcomb is second (18.0) while Tony Bland is fourth (16.8).
* - 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 Thursday, San Diego State was 62nd in the RPI.