Oct. 25, 2003
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State concluded its first week of basketball practices with a scrimmage on Saturday afternoon at Cox Arena. The Aztec coaching staff used the five, 10-minute periods to play multiple combinations in game-like conditions.
"It went like every first scrimmage goes," head coach Steve Fisher said. "There was a lot of slippage from practice to the scrimmage but the guys played hard. You see things five-on-five that you don't see during practice and that is why we do it."
Junior guard Wesley Stokes led all players with 29 points followed by freshman Brandon Heath, who added 19 points and tied for team-high honors with four assists. Junior Tommy Johnson poured in 18 points and was joined in double figures by senior Aerick Sanders and freshman Marcus Slaughter with 14 points apiece.
Slaughter added nine rebounds to pace the team in that category while Sanders grabbed eight boards in the game. Slaughter also had team-highs with three steals and two blocked shots.
Junior Chris Walton had 13 points, on 4-of-5 shooting from the field and added six rebounds. He was perfect from three-point range, connecting on all three attempts, and his teams posted a 2-0-2 (wins-losses-ties) record.
The only other player that did not suffer a defeat was sophomore John Sharper. The guard had 12 points and two assists in leading his squads to a 3-0-2 record.
As a team, the Aztecs connected on 18-of-38 three-point field goal attempts (47.4 percent).
Steve Sir was the only player on the Aztec roster that did not participate in the scrimmage. The sophomore, who is recovering from hernia surgery, is expected to return to practice early next month.
Next Saturday (Nov. 1), San Diego State will conduct its first public scrimmage of the 2003-04 season. The Aztec Open House will begin at 1 p.m. PST at Cox Arena with the men's team conducting an hour-long scrimmage from 1-2 p.m. Both men's head coach Steve Fisher and women's head coach Jim Tomey will then speak and introduce their squads. A women's scrimmage rounds out the open house from 2:15-3 p.m.
"I expect to see a lot of improvement between the first and second scrimmages," Fisher said. "We are going to have a team that can run better and play several different ways. We need to be sharper in the half-court offense, but that is something every coach in the country says after the first scrimmage."
Fans will also be able to select their seats and order tickets for the 2003-04 men's and women's home basketball seasons. Free team posters, schedule magnets and schedule cards will be available, while SDSU's flagship station, The Mighty 1090, will be set up on the concourse with games and prizes for children in attendance. Admission is free and concessions will be available.
SAN DIEGO STATE MEN'S BASKETBALL NOTES
Arizona officials have announced that San Diego State's game at Arizona on Mon., Dec. 22 will begin at 6:30 p.m. MST. The game will be televised by Fox Sports Arizona. That increases the Aztec total of televised games for the upcoming campaign to a minimum of 25.
San Diego State had added walk-on Jared Ines to the practice roster. Ines, a junior from Ohlone College, is a 6-8, 230-pound forward and provides the Aztecs with another post practice player. Although eligible to practice, he is not currently eligible to compete in games.
SAN DIEGO STATE MEN'S BASKETBALL SCRIMMAGE STATISTICS
MBB STATS FG 3FG FT O-D-T TP A TO B S Team RecordTrimaine Davis 2-7 0-0 0-1 1-2-3 4 2 7 1 1 0-3-2Travis Hanour 2-6 0-4 0-1 2-2-4 4 5 0 0 0 0-3-2Brandon Heath 7-16 3-8 1-1 2-2-4 19 4 4 0 1 1-2-2Jared Ines 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1-1-2Tommy Johnson 5-12 2-4 3-3 0-2-2 18 2 1 0 1 1-2-2Chris Manker 2-3 1-2 0-0 2-5-7 5 1 2 1 0 2-1-2Aerick Sanders 5-10 0-0 4-5 4-4-8 14 0 3 0 2 2-1-2John Sharper 4-8 4-6 0-0 1-1-2 12 2 2 0 1 3-0-2Steve Sir DNP - InjuredMarcus Slaughter 6-10 0-0 1-1 4-5-9 14 1 3 2 3 1-2-2Wesley Stokes 8-16 3-6 7-10 0-3-3 29 2 3 1 0 1-2-2Chris Walton 4-5 3-3 1-1 0-6-6 13 1 2 0 1 2-0-2Ben Wardrop 1-4 1-2 0-1 1-0-1 3 1 2 0 0 1-1-2Shawn Weinstein 1-4 1-3 2-2 0-2-2 5 4 4 0 0 2-1-2TOTALS 47-101 18-38 19-26 17-34-51 140 24 38 5 10
-SDSU-