Jan. 5, 2004
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State senior forward Aerick Sanders averaged 26.0 points and 11.5 rebounds last week en route to his third Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week honor of the season the league announced today. Sanders becomes just the third player ever to win three MWC POW awards in the same season, and ties Michael Cage for the most awards for an Aztec.
Overall, Sanders shot 61.3 percent (19-of-31) from the field and 73.7 percent (14-of-19) from the free throw line, while blocking four shots and recording five steals in the Aztecs' victories over Portland (67-61) and Iowa State (86-76).
Sanders joins Cage as the only player from SDSU to have three conference POW honors in the same season as Cage earned three from the WAC in 1984. The two are also tied for the most POW awards by an Aztec in a career with four. Sanders joins UNLV's Marcus Banks in 2002-03 and Kaspars Kambala in 1999-2000 as the only individuals to receive the honor three times from the MWC in the same season.
Sanders, a Carson, Calif. (Gardena Serra HS) native, collected his fifth double-double of the year with a career-high 34 points and 14 rebounds in the win over Portland. The 34 points is an MWC individual high this season. He shot 13-of-20 from the field and hit 8-of-11 free throws against the Pilots.
In the 10-point win over Iowa State, Sanders had 18 points, a team-high nine rebounds, a career-high four steals, two assists and two blocked shots in 39 minutes of action. The senior connected on 6-of-11 shots from the field and 6-of-8 from the line. With the Aztecs trailing by a point at the half, Sanders posted 12 points and five rebounds in the second half. The Aztecs trailed 44-43 with 14:44 left before SDSU used a 13-2 run to take control of the game. Sanders had six points and an assist during that key run to seal the victory.
San Diego State (9-5) will play at Saint Mary's on Tuesday night starting at 7:00 p.m. The Aztecs return to Cox Arena on Monday (Jan. 12) to begin MWC action against preseason favorite BYU at 7:05 p.m.