Men's Basketball

Aztecs Look to Continue Building Momentum Saturday in Laramie

Feb. 28, 2003

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San Diego State (14-10/5-6) at Wyoming (19-6/7-3)

Saturday, March 1, 2003
4:00 p.m. MST (announced)
Arena-Auditorium (15,000)
Laramie, Wyo.

Tip Time: Tip time is set for 4:00 p.m. MST. Television: The game will be televised by Channel 4 San Diego. Chris Marlowe (play-by-play), John Kentera (color), Nick Davis (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 54-59. Now in his 12th full season as a head coach, he has amassed a 238-141 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).

Wyoming Coach Steve McClain: Coaching his fifth season at Wyoming, McClain (Chadron State '84) holds a career and Wyoming head-coaching record of 98-47. McClain and the Cowboys have a shot at a third straight MWC regular season titleand a second straight NCAA tournament selection,but will likely earn a fourth postseason berth in his five seasons.

The Series: San Diego State and Wyoming are meeting for the 52nd time, with the Cowboys holding a 30-21 lead in the series despite three straight Aztec wins. The Cowboys own a 19-3 mark in Laramie after SDSU ended an eight-game losing streak there with a 68-64 win there last season.

The Tickets: Tickets are available for the game through the Wyoming ticket office (1-800-922-9461 or 307-766-4850). Tickets range in price from $15-18.

Aztecs Look to Continue Building Momentum Saturday in Laramie
Playing its best basketball of the season, San Diego State (14-10 overall/5-6 Mountain West Conference) opens a three-game road swing to end the regular season Saturday afternoon at Wyoming (19-6/7-3).

Game time is set for 4 p.m. MST (3 p.m. PST) at Arena-Auditorium and the contest will be carried live by Channel 4 San Diego. The game can be heard along the West Coast on XTRA-AM 690 (San Diego).

The Aztecs enter the contest having won two straight games by 14 and 16 points, respectively. It marks the first time San Diego State has posted consecutive double-digit victories against league opponents since February 2001.

On Monday night, the Aztecs defeated New Mexico 89-73 on senior night at Cox Arena. San Diego State led the final 27:18 of the contest and enjoyed a lead of at least nine points for the final 17:42 of the game.

Freshman Evan Burns recorded his second career double-double, posting career-highs with 31 points and 13 rebounds in 34 minutes of action. Senior Tony Bland chipped in 21 points and added five rebounds and three assists. It was the second consecutive game in which the Los Angeles native has scored 20 or more points. Senior Mike Mackell extended his double-digit scoring streak to 26 straight games with 12 points.

The Aztecs won most of the statistical match-ups, including a 37-25 rebound advantage. San Diego State also shot 55.7 percent from the floor, marking the second straight game SDSU has cleared 50 percent shooting from the field. The Aztecs held the Lobos to 39.7 percent shooting, and won for the 23rd consecutive time when holding the opponent to 40 percent or below from the field.

Wyoming has been off since last Saturday when the Cowboys claimed a 62-60 home court victory over Colorado State. The Cowboys were led by Jay Straight's 20 points in the contest.

Saturday will mark the 52nd meeting between the teams with Wyoming owning a 30-21 series lead. The Aztecs have won the last three encounters with between the teams, including last season's 68-64 victory in Laramie (Wyoming's only home loss in 2001-02) and an 80-70 victory at Cox Arena earlier this season. Wyoming has won 19 of the 22 all-time meetings in Laramie, with Aztec wins coming in 1985, 1991 and 2002.

Storylines and Sidebars

  • The Aztecs' Mountain West record of 5-6 ties last year's team for the best MWC mark through 11 games in the four years of the league. Previous MWC starts: 1999-00 - 0-11; 2000-01 - 2-9; and 2001-02 - 5-6.
  • With the Aztecs playing on Monday night and Wyoming last playing on Saturday, the Cowboys will have two extra days of preparation for the game. Remarkably, this is the third time in the last five league games that San Diego State's opponent will have had more prep time (in the other two games the teams have had equal prep time). Since the beginning of last conference season and including the rest of this season, San Diego State has been at a disadvantage 10 times, an advantage three times, and had equal prep time 15 times.
  • With a combined record of 6-38 at Wyoming and at Colorado State, SDSU has historically had a miserable time on the Laramie-Fort Collins road swing. That is, until last season, when the Aztecs swept the two games for the first time ever in 12 swings through Wyoming and Colorado State. In fact, before last season, the Aztecs had not won a game on the trip since defeating CSU in the back-end of the 1982 swing (a span of seven winless trips). Last season's victories snapped an eight-game losing streak at Wyoming and a 17-game skid at Colorado State. SDSU is 4-20 in back-to-back games in the Cowboys' and Rams' facilities, a .167 winning percentage that is .122 points better than the Aztecs' percentage in the Utah-BYU road swings (2-42, .045 winning percentage).
  • With 51 meetings between the teams over the past 25 seasons, Wyoming has faced the Aztecs more than any other opponent over that span. In fact, the Aztecs and Cowboys have played seven games over the past two-plus seasons. This familiarity has bred some compelling games, culminating last season with the following three results: an overtime contest, SDSU's first win in Laramie since 1991 and a one-point decision in the conference tournament when both teams felt a need to win to extend their respective seasons into the NCAA tournament.
  • The Aztecs have won their last three games with Wyoming, including a pair of victories last season at Laramie and in the semifinals of the MWC Tournament. The three-game win streak matches SDSU's longest winning streak against a MWC opponent since the league's inception. The Aztecs also have a current streak of three straight wins over Air Force and had won three consecutive against Colorado State before falling to the Rams Feb. 1.
  • Since Feb. 4, 2002, three of the Cowboys' six regular-season losses to MWC teams have come to the Aztecs (Wyoming record vs. MWC opponents over that span: 14-6). Wyoming won the regular-season MWC title last season and is in a second-place tie this season.
  • With 12 points Monday against New Mexico, senior center Mike Mackell extended his double-digit scoring streak to 26 games (every game this season and the final two contests of the 2001-02 season. That is the longest scoring streak since Anthony Watson established the Aztec modern day record (since 1981) by ending his career scoring 10+ points in his final 31 games as an Aztec. Mackell's streak, the third-longest during that time frame, can tie the second-longest streak of 27 set by Michael Cage with a double-digit performance Saturday at Wyoming.
  • Senior guard Tony Bland has scored 20+ points in consecutive games for the first time since early last season. The Los Angeles native posted six consecutive 20+ scoring games to open his junior campaign, but then went 50 consecutive games without posting consecutive 20-point scoring efforts. That came to an end when Bland scored 28 in the Aztecs' victory over Air Force and followed up with 21 points in his regular season home finale against New Mexico on Monday.
  • San Diego State is on pace to set a school record for rebound margin. The Aztecs have outrebounded seven straight teams and 11 of their last 12 opponents. The result is a season rebound margin of +6.2, which betters the current school record of +5.7 set back in 1975-76 season. Official NCAA statistics through Feb. 24 placed the Aztecs' rebound margin as 16th nationally.
  • The Aztecs have been a victim of bad luck during the conference season, posting a 1-3 record in games decided by four points or less. The Aztecs' three losses in games decided by four points or less in league action tie Air Force for the most by any Mountain West Conference school. Records in the aforementioned games (ranked by winning percentage): Wyoming 4-0, Utah 2-1, Colorado State 2-2, Brigham Young 1-1, New Mexico 1-1, UNLV 1-2, Air Force 1-3, San Diego State 1-3.

Final Stretch For Three Seniors
Three Aztec seniors - Tony Bland, Deandre Moore and Mike Mackell - played their final home game Monday against New Mexico and are entering the final regular-season stretch of their San Diego State careers.

Tony Bland is in his second season at San Diego State after transferring from Syracuse following his sophomore campaign. Each of Bland's first three collegiate seasons resulted in a 20-win campaign and a trip to the NCAA tournament. A Los Angeles native, Bland currently ranks fifth in scoring (16.4), fourth in assists (3.46) and second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.60) in the Mountain West Conference. He has played in 121 career games (including 57 at SDSU) and posted 1,268 points, 316 rebounds and 301 career assists. His collegiate teams have gone 82-40 (.672).

Deandre Moore is in his third season at San Diego State after transferring from Vanderbilt following his freshman campaign. Moore enters Monday ranked among the top 10 in six different SDSU career charts, including sixth in assists (320), eighth in three-point field goal percentage (35.8), seventh in games started (67), tied for seventh in three-point field goals made (76), eighth in minutes played (2,285) and ninth in steals (110). This season, he ranks in the top 11 of five Mountain West Conference stat categories and is one of three players to start all 24 games.

Mike Mackell is in his second season at San Diego State after being named the California junior college player of the year at Porterville JC. A native of Washington D.C., Mackell is ninth in the league in scoring (15.5), fourth in field-goal percentage (55.7) and 17th in rebounding (4.5). He has scored in double figures in every game this season and in 26 straight contests dating back to last season.

The three seniors have helped guide the Aztecs to a 35-22 record since the beginning of the 2001-02 season as well as the '02 MWC tournament championship.

Bland Earns NABC All-District Honors
San Diego State senior Tony Bland has been selected as a second team Division I All-District honoree by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).

Bland, a co-captain on the Aztec team, leads San Diego State in scoring at 16.4 points per game. He also leads the team in minutes played (34.3 mpg), is second in assists (83) and fourth in rebounds (89). A native of Los Angeles, the 6-5 guard is ranked among the Mountain West Conference top five in four different statistical categories - third in assist-to-turnover ratio, fourth in assists, fifth in scoring and 15th in steals.

Only 10 players were selected to each district team. Joining Bland on the District 13 team were Ruben Douglas (New Mexico), Travis Hansen (Brigham Young), Britton Johnson (Utah), Jermaine Boyette (Weber State), Brian Greene (Colorado State), Donta Richardson (Wyoming), Carl English (Hawai'i), Uche Nsonwu-Amadi (Wyoming) and Kirk Snyder (Nevada).

This is the second consecutive season that an Aztec has been named to the District 13 team. Last year, Randy Holcomb earned first team honors.

Selected and voted on by member coaches of the NABC, the All-District honorees are now eligible for the NABC Division I All-American Team, which will be announced at the end of the 2002-03 season.

Aztec Cliff Notes
Steve Fisher, who has authored one of the nation's most remarkable turnarounds at San Diego State, has the Aztecs playing some of the best basketball in school history.

The Aztecs have won 14 of their last 22 games in posting a 14-10 overall record and a 5-6 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 +6.2 rebound margin. Meanwhile on defense, the Aztecs have limited their opposition to 43.5 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 steals. Bland is averaging a team-high 16.4 ppg and is third in the league with a 1.60 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 41.2 percent from bonus distance and is 11th in the conference in three-point percentage and 11th in three-point field goals made (1.38 per game). Moore is averaging 8.0 ppg, 4.3 apg and 3.3 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 ninth in the MWC in scoring, averaging 15.5 ppg, and is 17th in rebounding at 4.5. He is also connecting on 55.7 percent of his shots from the field, fourth-best in the league.

Aerick Sanders has started all 24 games this season at the power forward spot. The junior is third in the league in rebounding and posting 6.3 ppg and 8.0 rpg. He has produced 13 games with nine or more rebounds. He was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week on February 10.

The fifth starting spot has largely been determined by match-ups and filled by wing players in freshman Steve Sir and sophomores Tommy Johnson and Travis Hanour. All three contribute in different ways: Sir (5.3 ppg, 1.2 rpg) is an unbelievable three-point shooter who has made 37 treys and is connecting on 38.9 percent of his long-range attempts this season;. Johnson (5.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg) is an athletic wing with the ability to beat people off the dribble; and Hanour (3.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg) is the most athletic of the three but has fought tendinitis in both knees throughout the season.

When the Aztecs choose to go with a bigger lineup, the fifth starting slot goes to athletic 6-8 freshman Evan Burns. After coming off the bench since making his long-awaited Aztec debut on Dec. 7 against top-ranked Arizona, the McDonald's All-American started two straight games before returning to the bench for the last three. 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. Coming off the bench for the fifth straight game, Burns propelled the Aztecs to a 50-5 bench scoring advantage against New Mexico by producing his second career double-double with career-highs in points (31) and rebounds (13). Burns is third on the team in scoring with 8.4 ppg and second in rebounding at 4.8 rpg despite averaging only the fifth-most playing time at 19.4 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 1.5 rpg and has played in 19-of-20 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 2.0 ppg in 22 games and has turned the ball over just nine times in 201 minutes of action, including just five turnovers in his last 147 minutes.

Last Time Out: Frosh Burns Leads Aztecs To Victory On Senior Night
SAN DIEGO - With the spotlight aimed on the Aztecs' three seniors in their final home game, it was a freshman who shined brightest in San Diego State's 89-73 win over New Mexico at the season's last game Cox Arena. Frosh Evan Burns came off the bench to set career highs with 31 points and 13 rebounds and help negate a career high-tying 43 points from the nation's scoring leader, the Lobos' Ruben Douglas.

Burns's effort led SDSU's reserves to a 50-5 scoring advantage over New Mexico's bench. And not to be out-done in their last appearance at Cox Arena, seniors Tony Bland (21 points), Mike Mackell (12 points) and Deandre Moore (7 assists) helped the Aztecs to their highest point total ever in a Mountain West game and third-largest margin of victory in a MWC contest.

The Aztecs had trouble defending Douglas early, as he scored the Lobos' first 11 points and had 13 as his layup gave UNM a 17-16 lead with 7 minutes, 28 seconds remaining in the first half. However, on the ensuing possession, Burns hit his third straight three-pointer to give the Aztecs the lead they would never relinquish.

Burns had half (18) of the Aztecs' points and shot 7-of-9 in the first half compared to 8-of-24 by the rest of the team as SDSU took a 36-30 lead into the half. But the rest of the team caught up to Burns's hot start by reeling off a 20-8 run to start the second half. After missing his first shot of the second stanza, Bland made seven straight shots to lead the run in scoring 19 of his 21 points in the second half.

The Aztecs led by as many as 18 points on four different occasions in the second half and the Lobos never came closer than nine points the rest of the way. The home crowd, which helped set SDSU's all-time attendance records of 116,536 total fans and 7,284 fans per game, was brought to its feet when Burns blocked Douglas's shot and turned it into a breakaway dunk with 5:31 left and when Ben Wardrop hit a three-pointer with less than a second left that finalized the score at 89-73.

At 55.7 percent field-goal shooting, the Aztecs shot better than 50 percent for the fifth time this season and in back-to-back games for the first time this year. SDSU, which is averaging a school-record +6.2 rebound margin, out-rebounded the Lobos 37-25.

With the win, the senior trio of Bland, Mackell and Moore has helped guide the Aztecs to a 35-22 record since the beginning of the 2001-02 season, including the 2002 MWC Tournament championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance

NOTES OF THE GAME: SDSU avenged a four-point loss to the Lobos in Albuquerque earlier this season and won for the third time in four tries vs. New Mexico... Three of the Aztecs' last 11 Mountain West wins have come against New Mexico... The win keeps the Aztecs on pace with last season's team for the best-ever Mountain West record after 11 games at 5-6... Freshman Steve Sir connected on all three of his three-point attempts and is 5-for-5 over the last two games after going 2-of-15 over his previous six games.

San Diego State - Wyoming: The Series
San Diego State and Wyoming are meeting for the 52nd time in history, with the Cowboys holding a 30-21 series lead - including a 19-3 edge in Laramie - despite three straight Aztec victories over the last two seasons.

  • With 51 meetings between the teams over the past 25 seasons, Wyoming has faced the Aztecs more than any other opponent over that span. In fact, the Aztecs and Cowboys have played seven games over the past two-plus seasons. This familiarity has bred some compelling games, culminating last season with the following three results: an overtime contest, SDSU's first win in Laramie since 1991 and a one-point decision in the conference tournament when both teams felt a need to win to extend their respective seasons into the NCAA tournament.
  • The Aztecs have won their last three games with Wyoming, including a pair of victories last season at Laramie and in the semifinals of the MWC Tournament. The three-game win streak matches SDSU's longest winning streak against a MWC opponent since the league's inception. The Aztecs also have a current streak of three straight wins over Air Force and had won three consecutive against Colorado State before falling to the Rams Feb. 1.
  • Since Feb. 4, 2002, three of the Cowboys' six regular-season losses to MWC teams have come to the Aztecs (Wyoming record vs. MWC opponents over that span: 14-6). Wyoming won the regular-season MWC title last season and is in a second-place tie this season.
  • The Cowboys hold a 19-3 advantage in Laramie. However, SDSU knocked off the MWC-leading Cowboys 68-64 at Arena-Auditorium last season to snap a six-game overall losing streak and an eight-game skid in Laramie to win for the first time there since Feb. 23, 1991. Those streaks are two of 13 losing streaks of six or more games that the Aztecs have snapped under Steve Fisher (see the left-hand column on page nine).
  • A win over the Cowboys Saturday would give SDSU a sweep of the regular-season series for the first time since the 1990-91 season. This comes after last season's pair of victories (at Laramie and in the MWC Tournament) over the Cowboys marked the first time the Aztecs defeated Wyoming twice in the same season since the 1993-94 campaign.
  • The three meetings last season were decided by a combined eight points, an average margin of 2.7 points per game. The Aztecs won the earlier meeting this season at Cox Arena, 80-70, for a 10-point margin that was SDSU's second-largest all-time win over Wyoming trailing only a 12-point win (95-83) on Feb. 23, 1991, at Laramie. This season's first game bucked the recent trend of close games between the schools, as now 11 of the last 23 have been decided by four points or less.
  • Wyoming entered the Feb. 3 game against the Aztecs with the league's second-best rebounding margin of +7.3 per game, but were out-rebounded on the night by the Aztecs 39-23, including 23-13 in the second half and 14-6 on the offensive glass. The Cowboys have been out-rebounded only five times this season and are 1-4 in those games, winning only the last time on Feb. 22 when Colorado State - losers of seven straight - held a 31-26 advantage.
  • The Aztecs have played the Cowboys six times in postseason conference tournaments, including three times in the past five seasons, more than any other opponent. The Aztecs are 4-2 in those games, none of which have taken place farther than the tournament semifinals.

San Diego State Players vs. Wyoming

  • Senior guard Tony Bland: Bland set a pair of career-highs in the overtime loss to Wyoming at home on Big Monday last season, playing 43 minutes and registering three blocks. In the second meeting, he matched career-bests with eight rebounds and four steals. In the first meeting this season, Bland scored 18 points and dished out four assists in the Aztecs' 80-70 win.

However, his best contribution in the victory may have come on the defensive end against Wyoming shooting guard Donta Richardson. Bland helped limit Richardson, currently the league's third-leading scorer at 17.7 points per game and who had averaged 20.1 points over the previous 10 games coming in the Feb. 3 match-up, to just seven points on 2-of-11 shooting.

This season, Bland is not only the team's top scorer at 16.4 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 ResultHawai'i Carl English 43.4 20.4 16 4-15 3-7 5-7 W, 60-49Tx Tech Andre Emmett 52.0 21.7 16 8-21 0-1 0-0 L, 75-63UT-gm1 Nick Jacobson 44.0 13.2 11 4-16 0-8 3-3 W, 58-56BYU-gm1 Travis Hansen 45.7 16.4 14 4-7 0-1 6-9 L, 80-69UNM-gm1 Ruben Douglas 41.6 28.5 21 4-17 3-10 10-10 L, 62-66WYO-gm1 D. Richardson 44.0 17.7 7 2-11 0-4 3-5 W, 80-70

  • Senior center Mike Mackell: Mackell had a difficult time with the size of Wyoming's post players last season, fouling out of two games and racking up 14 fouls in 56 minutes over the three contests. He averaged 7.7 points and 3.3 rebounds against the Cowboys last year.

However, Mackell came back this season with a strong offensive effort in the teams' first game. He tallied 17 points on 8-of-15 shooting for his best best scoring output in four career games vs. Wyoming. His defensive effort against center Uche Nsonwu-Amadi was also a key to SDSU's win, as Mackell helped to hold the all-conference candidate to just two points on three second-half shot attempts after Nsonwu-Amadi's 6-for-6 start to the game.

  • Senior guard Deandre Moore: With seven games and six starts against Wyoming, Moore has played and started more times against the Cowboys than any other active Aztec. Including his redshirt season of 1999-00, Moore has seen SDSU swept by the Cowboys in back-to-back seasons of 1999-00 and 2000-01 and six straight losses overall to Wyoming before the Aztecs won the last three meetings. That experience has translated into success running the offense against Wyoming, with Moore averaging 4.7 assists in 24.4 minutes. He has compiled an impressive 4.1 assist-to-turnover ratio against Wyoming.
  • Junior forward Aerick Sanders: After missing all three Wyoming contests as a freshman due to a stress reaction in his right foot, Sanders played in all three games last year and performed well. In averaging 12.3 minutes in the three contests due to foul trouble for the Aztecs' other front-court players, Sanders shot 61.5 percent and scored 5.3 points and grabbed 4.3 rebounds to go along with a total of five blocks.

However, Sanders was even better in the teams' earlier meeting this year, posting a performance that netted him Mountain West Conference Player of the Week honors. 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.

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.

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 at that point in the season. He also registered two blocked shots.

  • Sophomore center Chris Manker: Though not in an Aztec uniform, Manker played the best game of his brief collegiate career against the Cowboys. While with Oregon State during the 2000-01 season, Manker and the Beavers dropped 65-53 decision to Wyoming in the Casper, Wyo. Cowboy Shootout despite the 7-footer's best efforts. Manker set career-highs with nine points, three field goals, eight field-goal attempts, one block in 31 minutes.

Manker made a brief appearance in the Aztecs' earlier meeting with Wyoming, playing four minutes.

  • Freshman forward Evan Burns: The McDonald's High School All-American made the first start of his collegiate career and racked up 17 points, eight rebounds and a career-high five assists in a then-high 29 minutes. Burns, whose 80.5 percent free-throw shooting is the best among Aztecs with more than 10 attempts, also set career-highs for free throws made (7) and attempted (8). He produced one of his many highlight film-quality plays of the season when he recovered a loose ball and swished a three-pointer while falling out-of-bounds with the shot clock running out, giving the Aztecs their largest lead of the game at 16 points.

The Last Meeting

  • San Diego State 80, Wyoming 70 Feb. 3, 2003 (Cox Arena - San Diego, Calif.)
    SAN DIEGO - San Diego State led for all but the first 77 seconds of the contest en route to a 80-70 victory over Wyoming on Big Monday at Cox Arena. The Aztecs snapped a three-game losing streak and defeated the first-place Cowboys behind a balanced scoring effort of four players in double-figures and a plus-16 advantage on the boards over the NCAA's 14th-best rebounding team.

Of Wyoming's last three losses to Mountain West teams, three have come at the hands of the Aztecs, who won their third straight in the series. At 3-3 in the MWC and 12-7 overall, SDSU earned its best-ever Mountain West start after six games and its best overall beginning after 19 games since the 1984-85 NCAA Tournament-bound Aztecs began 15-4.

Wyoming (16-4 overall, 4-1 MWC) trailed from the 18:43 mark of the first half on en route to only its second loss in its last 15 games. SDSU utilized a 14-2 run early in the first half and held a lead of 11 points once and margins of 10 points at five different times before Uche Nsonwu-Amadi's 6-for-6 shooting had the Cowboys back in it at 41-39 by halftime.

The teams battled back-and-forth for the first six minutes of the second half with the Cowboys coming within two points on four occasions. However, a 17-4 Aztec run sparked by six Mike Mackell points and capped by an Evan Burns three-pointer as he recovered a loose ball and faded out-of-bounds with the shot clock expiring gave the Aztecs their largest lead at 69-53.

A 13-2 run brought the Cowboys within 71-66 at 1:34, but the Aztecs converted 7-of-10 free throws (including 6-for-6 by Burns) to claim a 10-point victory, their second-largest margin ever against Wyoming.

With a 39-23 rebound advantage including 23-13 in the second half and a 14-6 edge on the offensive glass, SDSU out-rebounded its opponent for the 14th time in 18 games. The Aztecs also set a season-low for turnovers in MWC play with 11 as they won for only the fourth time in the Steve Fisher era when the opposition shot 50 percent from the field.

Senior Tony Bland led the Aztecs in scoring (18 points) and shot better than 50 percent from the field for the fifth straight game. Mackell added 17 points as did Burns, who also recorded eight rebounds and career-highs in assists (five) and minutes (29) in his first collegiate start. Junior Aerick Sanders registered career-best figures of 14 points and 14 rebounds, the Aztecs' highest-ever rebound total by an individual in MWC play.

Nsonwu-Amadi and David Rottinghaus led the Cowboys with 14 points despite each being held to just two second-half points. Donta Richardson, who came into the night averaging 20.1 points over his last 10 games, was harassed into 2-of-11 shooting and seven points by an Aztec defensive effort headed by Bland.

NOTES OF THE GAME: In its past two games, SDSU out-rebounded the MWC's top two rebounding teams (and two of the NCAA's top 14) by a combined margin of 79-53... The 13 made free throws, seven of which came in the final 1:09, matched SDSU's total free-throw makes from past two games... The Aztecs' three-game win streak over the Cowboys matches their longest against a MWC opponent since the league's inception.

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 was 3-4 as opposed to 2-6 last season and 12-8 overall compared to 13-10 in 2001-02.

The Last Meeting In Laramie

  • San Diego State 68, Wyoming 64 Feb. 18, 2002 (Arena-Auditorium - Laramie, Wyo.)
    LARAMIE, Wyo. -- San Diego State won its third consecutive conference game for the first time in 10 years as the Aztecs upset Mountain West Conference-leading Wyoming, 68-64, at Arena-Auditorium on February 18.

The Aztecs, who led the final 37:52 of the contest, used a 22-6 run in the first half to build a 19-point lead and carried a 41-25 advantage into halftime.

San Diego State led by 15 points with 5:20 remaining, and had to withstand a furious Wyoming rally to settle for a four-point victory.

The win snapped a six-game losing streak to the Cowboys, and was the Aztecs' first win in Laramie since Feb. 23, 1991.

San Diego State junior guard Tony Bland scored 19 points and tied a career-high with eight rebounds. Senior forward Randy Holcomb added 15 points and eight rebounds while senior guard Al Faux chipped in with 12 points.

San Diego State shot 51.7 percent from the field and out-rebounded the nation's third-ranked rebounding team 37-33 in the contest. The Aztecs were outscored from the free-throw line 22-6 for the game.

San Diego State went up 47-29 on a long jumper by Holcomb two minutes into the second half, and still led 65-52 with 5:18 remaining.

The Cowboys then launched a rally that was foiled when the Aztecs forced four straight missed shots in the final minute. In the final 24 seconds, Richardson missed two three-point attempts and Bailey missed a 12-foot jumper for the Cowboys.

About Wyoming
The Aztecs' win on Feb. 3 knocked Wyoming from first place and sent the Cowboys into a three-game slide down the Mountain West standings. Steve McClain's troops have since righted the ship by feasting on the bottom of the Mountain West with three straight wins. Wyoming needs a win Saturday to keep hopes up for a top-three seed in the conference tournament because it hosts fourth-place UNLV (winner of 4-of-5) for Big Monday on March 3 before ending the regular season with the brutal Provo-Salt Lake City road swing. Wyoming dropped home games to BYU and Utah in the first half of the conference season.

Playing without preseason MWC top returning player pick Marcus Bailey since Dec. 19, the Cowboys have depended on their backcourt for scoring of late. Senior guard Donta Richardson, third in the MWC in scoring at 17.7 points per game, has stepped his scoring average up to 19.7 points since Bailey went down. Sophomore Jay Straight earned Mountain West Player of the Week honors for Feb. 24 after averaging 23.5 points and making 10 straight three-pointers in wins at Air Force (64-57) and against Colorado State (62-60). Uche Nsonwu-Amadi continues to lead the conference in rebounding at 10.2 boards per game.

Wyoming continues to pound its opponents at the free-throw line with a conference-leading 511 points from the charity stripe this season. The Cowboys outscore their opponents by an average of 7.8 points per game from the free-throw line and boast the ever-impressive statistic of making 67 more free throws than their opponents have attempted. And with the emergence of straight as a viable third scoring option, Wyoming has become a dangerous three-point shooting team in hitting a league-best 45.2 percent of threes in conference play (vs. just 36 percent overall). However, the Cowboys are susceptible to giveaways with a -1.80 turnover margin in conference play and -0.88 overall (both seventh in the MWC).