Jan. 7, 2005
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San Diego State (6-7) opens its sixth season of play in Mountain West Conference play and looks for its third consecutive victory in league openers when the Aztecs play at Brigham Young (5-9) on Saturday night at the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah.
The 55th meeting between the Aztecs and Cougars is scheduled for a 7 p.m. MST/6 p.m. MST is being broadcast by SportsWest and is available in San Diego on Channel 4 San Diego and nationally through ESPN's Full Court package. The contest can be heard on XPRS (The Mighty 1090).
Both teams struggled against challenging non-conference schedules, with six of the Cougars' 14 games and five of the Aztecs' 13 games coming against teams currently ranked in the RPI top 100. Through Wednesday, Brigham Young's Division I opponents have won 59.0 percent of their games, while San Diego State's Division I opponents have won 57.3 percent of their games. Both teams' schedules ranks among the 60 nationally.
San Diego State snapped a two-game losing streak on Monday with a 64-49 victory over South Dakota State at Cox Arena. The Aztecs forced their SDSU namesakes into 23 turnover and limited the Jackrabbits to 30.8 percent field goal shooting to claim the victory. Sophomores Marcus Slaughter and Brandon Heath each scored 15 points for the Aztecs. Heath added a game-high seven assists, four rebounds and four steals. Senior center Chris Manker added seven points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Brigham Young had a three-game winning streak snapped with a 72-51 loss at Saint Mary's on Tuesday night. Mike Hall scored a team-high 12 points against the Gaels and leads the Cougars on the season with a 13.5 scoring average.
As previously notes, the Aztecs have won consecutive conference openers claiming a 65-61 victory over Brigham Young in 2004 and a 63-48 victory at Air Force in 2003. San Diego State has not opened three consecutive conference victories with wins since claiming league wins in the lidlifters in 1975-76-77 while playing in the PCAA. That is the only time in the Division I era (beginning with the 1970-71 season) that the Aztecs have won three consecutive season openers.
This season's opener at Brigham Young would appear to be a more daunting challenge. The Cougars are 30-1 in their last 31 home MWC games and have won 12 straight games at the Marriott Center against the MWC. During that 12-game streak, only four times has a game been decided in overtime or by single digits, with two of those four close calls coming to the Aztecs (in 2004: San Diego State, UNLV, Utah and in 2003: San Diego State).
Saturday will mark the 55th time San Diego State and Brigham Young have met on the hardwood, with the Cougars owning a 38-16 series lead. With 55 meetings, this series will move into a tie for the seventh most played series in school history, trailing only Fresno State, UC Santa Barbara, Whittier, San Jose State, Long Beach State and Loyola Marymount.
The Aztecs are 2-23 lifetime against Brigham Young in Provo, but have had shots at the buzzer to win in 2003 (Deandre Moore three to win and Mike Mackell follow shot that would have tied the game) and 2004 (Brandon Heath's driving runner in regulation). San Diego State and Brigham Young have split the last six games in the series and five of the last eight games between the teams have been decided by four points or less or in overtime.