Aztecs Open Mountain West Second Half at Conference-Leading Utah

Feb. 14, 2003

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San Diego State (12-8/3-4) at Utah (18-4/6-1)
Saturday, February 15, 2003
7:00 p.m. MST (announced)
Huntsman Center (15,000)
Salt Lake City, Utah

Tip Time: Tip time is set for 7:00 p.m. MST.
Television: The game will be televised by Channel 4 San Diego. Chris Marlowe (play-by-play), John Kentera (analysis), Jason Bott (producer). Radio: XTRA 690-AM. Jim Stone (play-by-play), Mike McGregor (producer).

SDSU Coach Steve Fisher: Fisher (Illinois State '67) is in his fourth season at San Diego State with a record of 52-57. Now in his 12th full season as a head coach, he has amassed a 236-139 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, he led the Aztecs to a 21-12 mark last year en route to the NCAA Tournament. Fisher has helped the Aztecs increase their win total in each of his first three seasons (from 4-to-5-to-14-to-21).

Utah Coach Rick Majerus: In his 19th season overall and 14th year heading the Utes program, Majerus (Marquette '70) holds a career head-coaching record of 400-138, including a 301-86 mark at Utah. Majerus has the Utes aiming for their 11th 20-win season and 10th NCAA Tournament selection in the last 13 years.

The Series: San Diego State and Utah are meeting for the 52nd time, with the Utes owning a 42-9 advantage and a 24-1 record in Salt Lake City. On Jan. 18, the Aztecs gained their first MWC victory over the Utes to snap a 14-game overall losing streak, and an Aztec win in the Huntsman Center would end a 20-game skid in Salt Lake City.

The Tickets: Tickets are available for the game through the Utah ticket office (801-586-8849) and online at www.utahcrimsonclub.com).

Aztecs Open Mountain West Second Half at Conference-Leading Utah
San Diego State (12-8 overall/3-4 Mountain West Conference) opens the second half of the Mountain West Conference play with a two-game road trip beginning with conference-leading Utah (18-4/6-1) on Saturday night in Salt Lake City.

Game time is set for 7 p.m. MST (6 p.m. PST) and the game will be televised by Channel 4 San Diego. The contest can be heard along the West Coast on XTRA-AM 690 (San Diego).

The Aztecs, who have posted an impressive 4-2 road record this season and have won seven of their last 10 road games, will have their work cut out for them on this trip. Utah and Brigham Young (Saturday's opponent), are a combined 35-9 this season, including 12-2 in the MWC and 21-1 at home (the one home loss was Utah winning at Brigham Young).

On Tuesday night in San Diego, the Aztecs suffered their worst point-defeat of the season, a 79-64 setback to UNLV. The Rebels never trailed in the contest and shot an Aztec opponent season-best 52.8 percent from the floor in the victory.

San Diego State cut a 16-point second-half deficit to five points before succumbing to the Rebels. Aztec seniors Mike Mackell and Tony Bland scored 22 and 21 points, respectively.

On Monday night, Utah won its sixth consecutive game with a 69-56 win at Wyoming. Marc Jackson led the way with 21 points and Tim Frost added 16. The Utes have won 13 straight home games, which was the 14th-longest active home win streak as of Tuesday. Utah has not lost since falling to the Aztecs in San Diego on Jan. 18.

Saturday marks the 52nd meeting between the teams with Utah owning a comfortable 42-9 series lead. The Aztecs snapped a 14-game losing streak to the Utes back on Jan. 18 with a 58-56 victory at Cox Arena. Utah owns a 24-1 series advantage in Salt Lake City, with the lone SDSU victory coming on Feb. 25, 1982 (74-72).

Streaks, Storylines and Sidebars

• The Aztecs completed the first half of Mountain West Conference play with a 3-4 record. Although below .500, it does represent the best start for San Diego State in the four-year history of the league. Previous first rotation records: 1999-00 - 0-7; 2000-01 - 1-6; and 2001-02 - 3-4. In each of the previous two seasons, the Aztecs posted a better record the next time around.
• Since Steve Fisher and company snapped a 30-game road losing streak on Jan. 6, 2001, the Aztecs have made a habit of winning on the road. San Diego State is 4-2 on the road this season and has won seven of its last 10 road games dating back to last season. Throw in neutral site games and SDSU has won nine of the last 13 away from Cox Arena.
• Since the beginning of the 2001-02 season, San Diego State has defeated five of the seven Mountain West Conference opponents on their home court. The only two teams to escape the Aztecs are Utah and Brigham Young.
• The Aztecs aren't looking to buy property in the Beehive State any time soon. San Diego State is a combined 3-45 in road games at Utah and BYU. The Aztecs have made the Salt Lake City-Provo road swing 21 times in the last 24 seasons and have lost 40 of those 42 games. Only twice have the Aztecs so much as split the trip - defeating BYU in the first game of the 1984-85 swing and winning at Utah in the first game of the 1981-82 trip - and SDSU has never won both games. In fact, the Aztecs have never won the second game of the swing, going 0-21.
• In case you are curious, the Aztecs lone victory at Utah came on Feb. 25, 1982 - a 74-72 decision. The Utes have since claimed the last 20 games in Salt Lake City. Last season, Utah closed the game with a 13-5 run to earn a 76-70 win. Prior to that game, the Utes' average margin of victory in the previous 15 Salt Lake City meetings was 18.7 points.
• At 12-8, San Diego State has tied its best record after 20 games since the 1984-85 NCAA tournament-bound team opened with a 16-4 mark. The Aztecs are on last season's pace, when SDSU got off to an 12-8 start before ending the season with a 21-12 record and a trip to the NCAA tournament. The 1984-85 squad also advanced to the NCAA tournament and ended the campaign with a 23-8 record.
• It is no secret that the free-throw line has been unkind to the Aztecs this season. San Diego State has been outscored 311-266 from the charity stripe this season, including a 118-73 margin in seven league games. That equates to 6.4 points per conference game. What makes matters worse is that SDSU's league opponents have connected on 76.6 percent of their free throw attempts. That percentage, compared to the 325 Division I schools, would rank eighth nationally. Going into the weekend's conference contests, the 76.6 free-throw percentage is 7.4 percentage points higher than the six MWC opponents' combined average (69.2) this season. Each opponent, except for Wyoming, shot better than its season percentage against the Aztecs.

Deja Vu?
The similarities between last season's Mountain West Conference tournament championship team and this season's squad are starting to add up.

Both teams suffered disappointing home losses in February, with last season's squad using that as the catalyst toward winning five of its final six regular-season games, a sweep in the league tournament and a trip to the NCAA tournament.

Both losses occurred after the Aztecs posted impressive wins - last season at New Mexico, this season over then-conference unbeaten Wyoming.

In fact, you could make a case that San Diego State is better off this season. After suffering this season's home loss, SDSU is 3-4 as opposed to 2-6 last season and 12-8 overall compared to 13-10 in 2001-02.

Below is a detailed look at the comparison.

2001-02 Season 2002-03 SeasonQuality W Before at New Mexico by 13 vs. Wyoming by 10Bad Home Loss Utah by 17 UNLV by 15Significance worst L of season worst L of seasonDate of Game Feb. 9 Feb. 11Record after Bad L 13-10 12-8Conference Record after Bad L 2-6 3-4Rest of Regular Season 5-1 ?Conference Tournament 3-0 ?

Sanders Named MWC Player of the Week
Aztec junior forward Aerick Sanders was named Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for his performance in the Aztecs' win over Wyoming Feb. 3. The Carson, Calif., native registered career-high totals of 14 points and 14 rebounds as the Aztecs upended the then-first place Cowboys for the third straight time, 80-70.

The honor marks the first career player of the week award for Sanders and the first for the Aztecs this season.

Sanders shot 7-of-10 from the field - hitting at least 50 percent of his field-goal attempts for the 13th time in 14 games - en route to his second career double-double. He hit 5-of-7 shots in the second half while the rest of the team went 9-for-22 as the Aztecs extended a 41-39 halftime lead into their second-largest victory (10 points) ever over the Cowboys.

Of Sanders' 14 boards against Wyoming, six came on the offensive glass as SDSU built a 39-23 rebound advantage over a Cowboy team that had fewer caroms than its opponent for only the third time this season. His 24 boards over the last two games has propelled the Aztecs to a 79-53 rebound advantage over the conference's top two rebounding teams, Colorado State and Wyoming.

He also registered two blocked shots, giving him at least one block in 13 games, and now has 66 rejections for his career (eighth all-time in SDSU history).

SDSU Mountain West Conference Player of the Week Award Winners 2000-01 Randy Holcomb 12.18.00 Randy Holcomb 1.8.01 2001-02 Tony Bland 12.3.01 Al Faux 12.10.01 Randy Holcomb 1.14.02 2002-03 Aerick Sanders 2.10.03

Aztec Cliff Notes
Steve Fisher, who has authored one of the nation's most remarkable turnarounds at San Diego State, has San Diego State playing some of the best basketball in the Mountain West Conference and the entire West Coast.

The Aztecs have won 12 of their last 18 games in posting an 12-8 overall record and a 3-4 mark in Mountain West Conference play. Two of the Aztecs' eight losses have come to nationally ranked opponents in top-ranked Arizona and then-No. 23 Texas Tech and two others occurred prior to sophomores Travis Hanour and Chris Manker and freshman Evan Burns being cleared to play.

Statistically, solid defense and rebounding have been the Aztecs' two major weapons this season. San Diego State has only been out-rebounded three times this season and boasts a +5.9 rebound margin. Meanwhile on defense, the Aztecs have limited their opposition to 43.0 percent field-goal shooting with only one opponent shooting better than 50 percent against the Aztecs this season.

The Aztecs sport one of the nation's most experienced backcourts in seniors Tony Bland and Deandre Moore. Both have played in more than 100 career games and are among the conference leaders in many categories.

Bland, who last season became the first player in MWC history to rank among the league's top 10 in points and assists and the top 20 in rebounds, ranks among the conference leaders in four statistical categories - points, assists, assist-to-turnover ratio and free-throw shooting. Bland is averaging a team-high 16.0 ppg and is second in the league with a 1.77 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Moore, the quintessential point guard, is the second-leading assist man in the league and has become quite a threat from long range. He has connected on 43.1 percent from bonus distance and is seventh in the conference in three-point percentage and 11th in three-point field goals made (1.4 per game). Moore is averaging 7.9 ppg, 4.4 apg and 3.4 rpg.

San Diego State's inside game is led by one of the conference's premiere low post players in Mike Mackell. The senior is sixth in the MWC in scoring, averaging 15.8 ppg, and is 15th in rebounding at 4.7. He is also connecting on 57.2 percent of his shots from the field, fourth-best in the league.

Aerick Sanders has started all 20 games this season at the power forward spot. The junior is third in the league in rebounding and posting 6.7 ppg and 8.8 rpg. He has produced 13 games with nine or more rebounds.

The fifth starting spot had largely been determined by match-ups going into the Wyoming game Feb. 3 and was filled by wing players freshman Steve Sir and sophomores Tommy Johnson and Travis Hanour. All three contribute in different ways: Sir (5.7 ppg, 1.2 rpg) is an unbelievable three-point shooter who has made 32 treys and is connecting on 36.0 percent of his long-range attempts this season;. Johnson (5.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg) is an athletic wing with the ability to beat people off the dribble; and Hanour (3.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg) is the most athletic of the three but has fought tendinitis in both knees throughout the season.

However, after coming off the bench since making his long-awaited Aztec debut on Dec. 7 against top-ranked Arizona, McDonald's All-American freshman Evan Burns has started the past two games. He made his first collegiate start against Wyoming and produced 17 points, eight rebounds and a career-high five assists in a career-best 29 minutes. Burns is fourth on the team in scoring with 7.8 ppg and third in rebounding at 4.5 rpg despite averaging only the fifth-most playing time at 18.6 minutes per game.

Fisher's bench is deeper than it has been in the past with three of the group of Burns, Sir, Johnson and Hanour coming off the bench and and sophomore center Chris Manker and freshman walk-on John Sharper ready to contribute.

Manker, the Aztecs' tallest player at 7-0, has shown guard-like skills. He can run the floor and pull up and shoot the three. He is averaging 2.8 ppg and 1.8 rpg and has played in all 16 games since he became eligible.

Sharper, who was originally recruited to back up Moore at the point guard position, has proven he can play both guard spots. He has averaged 2.4 ppg in 18 games and has turned the ball over just eight times in 183 minutes of action, including just four turnovers in his last 129 minutes.

Last Time Out: Aztecs Fall At Home To UNLV, 79-64
SAN DIEGO - UNLV became the first Aztec opponent to shoot better than 50 percent from the field en route to a 79-64 win over San Diego State at Cox Arena. The Rebels' win put UNLV and SDSU into a three-way tie for fourth place along with Colorado State to finish the first half of the conference season.

A game after turning the ball over 34 times in a blowout loss to USC, the Runnin' Rebels took care of the ball (14 turnovers) and performed efficiently on the offensive end, shooting 52.8 percent. The Rebels hit 8-of-13 three-pointers to negate SDSU's 32 points in the paint and 20 offensive rebounds.

UNLV never trailed in the game in jumping out to an 11-3 lead. The Aztecs pulled to within 20-18 on a Mike Mackell jumper, but UNLV outscored SDSU 23-9 the rest of the way to take a 43-27 halftime lead.

Tony Bland shot 6-of-12 field goals and had 13 points in the first half compared to the rest of the Aztecs' 6-of-23 shooting and 14 points.

SDSU played much better for the first 12 minutes of the second half and cut the lead to 60-55 on a Bland layup with 8 minutes, 24 seconds remaining. However, Jermaine Lewis came back with one of his seven three-pointers and after Mackell missed a breakaway dunk, the Rebels embarked on a game-breaking 15-2 run and ended up with the 79-64 win.

Lewis ended up with a game-high 24 points while Marcus Banks added 21. Mackell matched his career-high with 22 and Bland had 11, as the duo combined for 19-of-34 shooting and 43 points while the rest of the SDSU roster shot 7-for-29 and had 21 points.

NOTES OF THE GAME: Despite the loss, SDSU still has its best-ever Mountain West start at 3-4 after seven games... The game's 15-point margin was four points more than the combined total margin of last season's three games which were decided by a total of 11 points with two of the three going to overtime... Nine of junior Aerick Sanders' 11 rebounds came on the offensive end and he has provided the Aztecs 20 extra offensive chances in the last three games.

San Diego State - Utah: The Series

• San Diego State and Utah are meeting for the 52nd all-time game between the schools, with Utah owning a 42-9 advantage including a 24-1 mark in Salt Lake City.
• The Aztecs' win earlier this season at Cox Arena snapped a 14-game overall losing streak to the Utes, and Saturday's game at the Huntsman Center provides SDSU with another opportunity to snap a long losing skid against Utah: 20 straight losses to the Utes in Salt Lake City. The Aztecs under head coach Steve Fisher have snapped 13 different losing streaks (overall and away games) of six or more games, including eight streaks involving Mountain West teams (see page nine column).
• SDSU has won only one time ever in Salt Lake City, a 74-72 win on Feb. 25, 1982. Last season's six-point loss (70-76) at Utah was as close as the Aztecs have been in Salt Lake City since a 93-89 overtime loss there on Jan. 10, 1986.
• San Diego State is 0-3 at the Huntsman Center in MWC play. The lack of success on the Utes' home court is not limited to the Aztecs, as the Utes hold at least a five-game win streak over each conference opponent except Wyoming. The Cowboys are the only team to win in Salt Lake City since the MWC's inception, as the Utes own a 22-1 home court record going into Saturday's game with the Aztecs.
• The Aztecs are looking for only their second season series sweep ever over Utah, the other also coming in 1982. Despite playing Utah three times in a season on five occasions, the 1981-82 season is the only time that the Aztecs have beaten the Utes twice in a season.
• SDSU capped a school-record 11-game winning streak vs. unranked opponents with the 58-56 win over Utah on Jan. 18.
• That win also gave SDSU its first victory over Utah in Mountain West play. The Utes were the last conference team the Aztecs had not defeated.

San Diego State Players vs. Utah

• Senior guard Tony Bland: Bland has scored in double-digits in all three career games vs. the Utes, including a team-high 13 points in the last meeting between the Aztecs and Utes. The Utah games are three of Bland's 62 career games of 10 or more points

In the last SDSU-Utah game, Bland drew the defensive assignment of Utah's sharp-shooting 6-4 guard Nick Jacobson, who dropped 25 points on the Aztecs in a game last season. This time, Bland harassed Jacobson into 4-of-16 shooting and 0-of-8 three-pointers.

This season, Bland is not only the team's top scorer at 16.0 points per game, he has also become the Aztecs' top defensive stopper. Head coach Steve Fisher has tabbed Bland to match up with the opposition's top wing player and he has regularly held in check some of the nation's top players at the two or three positions.

The following is a look at how the Los Angeles native has held several of the nation's top players in check and below their season shooting percentages and scoring averages.

Season GameOpponent Player FG% Avg. TP FG 3FG FT OutcomeHawai'i Carl English 44.3 20.6 16 4-15 3-7 5-7 W, 60-49Tx Tech Andre Emmett 53.2 21.9 16 8-21 0-1 0-0 L, 75-63Utah Nick Jacobson 43.1 12.8 11 4-16 0-8 3-3 W, 58-56BYU Travis Hansen 47.5 16.4 14 4-7 0-1 6-9 L, 80-69UNM Ruben Douglas 41.8 27.5 21 4-17 3-10 10-10 L, 62-66WYO D. Richardson 43.2 17.1 7 2-11 0-4 3-5 W, 80-70

• Senior center Mike Mackell: Mackell has struggled somewhat against Utah, as the Utes are one of only two MWC opponents against which he is shooting less than 50 percent at 40.7 percent (he is shooting 46.2 percent vs. Wyoming). However, he is grabbing an average of 7.0 rebounds per game against the Utes, 2.5 boards more than his career average of 4.5. He registered his career-high of nine rebounds in the Aztecs' last game at Utah on Jan. 14 last season.

• Senior guard Deandre Moore: Moore set his career-high with nine rebounds against Utah on Jan. 18, helping propel him into 15th currently in conference games only at 4.1 boards. Moore also added eight points before fouling out for only the second time this season.

• Junior forward Aerick Sanders: Sanders was kept off the glass pretty well by the Utes' front line of 6-10 Tim Frost, 6-10 Britton Johnsen and 7-0 Cameron Koford. In 26 minutes, Sanders was held to just three rebounds, his second lowest total of the season and one of only four games this season in which he has recorded fewer than six rebounds. In spite of that fact, SDSU out-rebounded the Utes 38-30, including a 12-7 edge on the offensive glass, against a team with a +4.1 rebounding margin for the season.

• Sophomore guard Travis Hanour: Hanour registered career-highs of seven rebounds and 35 minutes in the Aztecs' earlier meeting with Utah and also had season-highs of two assists and two made free throws.

• Sophomore center Chris Manker: Manker registered his most productive Mountain West game to date against the Utes earlier this season. He scored six points in only eight minutes and had two rebounds and a blocked shot.

The Last Meeting

• San Diego State 58, Utah 56
  Jan. 18, 2003 (Cox Arena - San Diego, Calif.)
  SAN DIEGO - The Aztecs utilized an 18-4 second-half run as well as clutch free-throw shooting and baskets from Tony Bland and Mike Mackell in the waning minutes to hold on for a 58-56 victory over Utah at Cox Arena.

The victory enabled San Diego State (11-4 overall, 2-0 Mountain West) to become the first MWC team to two conference wins this season, giving the Aztecs their first 2-0 start in league play since the 1995-96 season. The Aztecs ended eight seasons of futility and a 14-game losing streak to Utah (12-4/0-1 MWC) in the process of earning their school-record 11th straight victory over unranked opponents.

Utah had opened up a six-point lead, its largest margin of the game, with 16 minutes, five seconds remaining in the second half. The Aztecs then went on their game-breaking run over a 7:01 span, receiving six points from Mackell and five each from Deandre Moore and Evan Burns in the run to take a 49-41 lead with 6:27 left.

Utah responded with a 9-1 run on points by four different players to knot the game at 50. The Aztecs then called timeout and on the ensuing possession, Tony Bland hit a running jumper to put the Aztecs up by two.

After a Britton Johnsen free throw cut it to one, Mackell tipped in an Aztec miss to put the Aztecs up 54-51. Marc Jackson hit one free throw to bring the Utes within 54-52 before Travis Hanour connected on a pair of free throws to give the Aztecs a four-point lead with 1:21 left.

A Nick Jacobson layup and an Aztec turnover gave the Utes the ball down by two points with 27 seconds remaining, but Johnsen's three-pointer rimmed out and SDSU's Aerick Sanders grabbed the rebound and made both free throws to give the Aztecs a four-point lead with six seconds left. Tim Frost's follow shot at the buzzer finalized the score at 58-56.

SDSU has now won 7-of-8 conference games and 10 of its last 11 games against conference opponents (counting the 2002 MWC Tournament).

Mackell and Bland, who helped hold Utah leading scorer Nick Jacobson (12.9 ppg) to 4-of-16 shooting, led the Aztecs with 13 points each. Moore and Hanour each recorded career-high rebounding totals of nine and seven, respectively.

Johnsen scored a game-high 16 points and Frost added 15 for the Utes.

NOTES OF THE GAME: The 56 points allowed were the Aztecs fifth-fewest given up to a MWC opponent... SDSU is 19-6 (76 percent) over its last 25 games, with three losses coming to nationally ranked opponents.... The Aztecs won the rebound battle, 38-30, out-rebounding their opponent for the 12th time in the last 14 games.

The Last Meeting In Salt Lake City

• Utah 76, San Diego State 70
  Jan. 14, 2002 (Huntsman Center - Salt Lake City, Utah)
  SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah outscored San Diego State 13-5 over the final 4:02 of the game to claim a 76-70 victory on January 14 at the Huntsman Center.

The Utes connected on 14-of-26 three-point field goals. The victory was the eighth in a row for Utah, extending the nation's longest home-court conference streak to 46.

Utah sprinted out to an early lead and enjoyed a 20-10 advantage with 10:38 remaining in the first half. The Aztecs scored the next 13 points to take a 23-20 advantage. The Utes rallied for a 39-34 lead at intermission.

The second half was just as close, as neither team led by more than four points for a 17-minute stretch after the break.

The Aztecs led as late as the 4:02 mark when Brandon Smith hit a tough fade-away jumper to break the game's sixth and final tie, giving the Aztecs a 65-63 lead.

Nick Jacobson responded with his seventh three-point field goal to produce the game's eighth and final lead change, putting the Utes up for good. Jacobson had a game-high 25 points.

The Aztecs saw their record in Salt Lake City fall to 1-24. They shot 51.9 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Utes 36-27. They also committed a season-low 11 turnovers, but were unable to overcome Utah's 14 three-point field goals.

Junior guard Tony Bland, coming off the worst shooting night of his career two days earlier at Brigham Young, responded by scoring 22 points.

About Utah
After dropping their first conference game of the season to the Aztecs, the Utes have reeled off six straight wins and sit atop the Mountain West at 6-1 with BYU, which Utah beat on the road already this season. The first-place standing is even more impressive when considering that the Utes opened conference play with three straight on the road and played five of their first seven MWC games away from the Huntsman Center. Saturday's contest with the Aztecs marks the start of a three-game homestand and five of the Utes' last seven games are at home, meaning the road to the MWC regular season championship certainly goes through Salt Lake City.

Just like the previous 13 Utah teams under Majerus, this season's Utes are getting the job done by playing solid defense and methodically converting on the offensive end. The offensive numbers are not pretty - Utah does not lead the conference in any category and stands seventh in scoring offense (67.5 points per game), free-throw percentage (.670) and assists (13.55 per game). However, the Utes' most important statistics are the 58.5 points yielded per game - fourth in the NCAA - and 40.4 percent shooting by its opponents, second in the MWC.

The Utes have a trio of double-digit point scorers, led by junior guard Nick Jacobson's 12.5 points per game. Tim Frost, a 6-10 junior center who transferred from Portland, has been a double threat from the post (12.5 ppg) and three-point range (45.0 percent), while Britton Johnsen has overcome his 45.9 percent free-throw shooting (compared to 48.2 field goal percentage) to average 11.9 points per game.

However, the Utes have been paced offensively during conference play by sophomore guard and sixth-man Marc Jackson. Jackson entered the Utes' first conference game averaging 4.1 points, but he scored 11 points against the Aztecs and has hit double-figures in each game since for a team-high average of 16.4 points during conference play.