March 7, 2002
Final Stats?|? Quotes?|? Notes
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Mike Mackell scored 20 points to lead San Diego State past Brigham Young 62-51 Thursday in their first-round game in the Mountain West Conference tournament.
The Aztecs (19-11) will play top-seeded Wyoming in the second round Friday night.
Al Faux added 13 points for San Diego State, which led throughout the game.
Mark Bigelow led BYU (17-11) with 15 points, and Eric Nielsen added 11.
San Diego State built its largest lead of the game at 35-22 with 13:49 remaining, but the Cougars responded with an 8-0 run to cut the lead to 35-30.
The Aztecs went on to lead 48-37 with 6:12 remaining. The Cougars got as close as 55-51 on a Nielsen basket with 1:25 left, but Mackell answered with a dunk seven seconds later to put the game away.
The Cougars were 18-for-59 from the field for 31 percent, including 3-for-17 from 3-point range.
The Aztecs outscored the Cougars in points off turnovers, 17-9.
San Diego State opened the game with a 13-2 run in the first 5:26, but the Cougars responded with a 10-2 spurt, cutting the lead to 15-12 midway through the half.
San Diego State took a 24-14 lead 2:40 before halftime, but the Cougars trimmed it to 24-18 by halftime.
BYU was 7-for-28 from the field for 25 percent in the first half, while the Aztecs were 10-for-31 for 32 percent.