Jan. 14, 2005
Complete San Diego State Game Notes at UNLV (1/15/05) in PDF Format
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Game No. 15
San Diego St. (7-7/1-0) at UNLV (7-6/0-1)
Saturday, Jan. 15, 2005
7:30 p.m. PST
Thomas & Mack Center (18,500)
Las Vegas, Nev.
Television
SportsWest. Dave McCann (play-by-play), Blaine Fowler (analysis) and Russ Merrill (producer). The game will be shown in the San Diego market on Channel 4 San Diego and is available nationally through ESPN Full Court.
Radio
XPRS-1090 AM, San Diego (The Mighty 1090). Ted Leitner (play-by-play) and Dave Marcus (producer).
Series
This will be the 35th meeting between the teams with UNLV owning a 27-7 series advantage. The teams split lat season's series, with the Aztecs winning 83-78 in San Diego and the Rebels claiming a 68-65 decision in Las Vegas. SDSU is 2-16 lifetime against the Rebels in Las Vegas, with SDSU wins coming on Feb. 17, 1979 and March 9, 2002 in the MWC Championship game.
Up Next
San Diego State returns home for a pair of Mountain West Conference games. The Aztecs play host to Wyoming (Ch. 4 San Diego) on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. PST and Colorado State on Monday at 9:00 p.m. PST (ESPN Big Monday).
Owners of the Lone Conference Road Win in the Opening Week of Play; San Diego State Travels to Las Vegas to Battle Pre-Season Conference Favorite UNLV on Saturday Night
San Diego State (7-7; 1-0 Mountain West Conference), the only team to win a conference road game in the opening week of the season, looks to extend its modest two-game winning streak when it travels to Las Vegas to face UNLV, the preseason favorite to win the Mountain West Conference championship on Saturday night.
The 35th meeting between the Aztecs and Rebels, scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. PST, 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).
San Diego State is coming off a dramatic 59-57 victory at Brigham Young last Saturday. The Aztecs trailed by 13 points in the first half, 11 points in the second half and by four points with 48 seconds left before rallying for the victory. Sophomore guard Brandon Heath made four consecutive driving layups in the final 2:39 and with the game tied at 57, senior forward Chris Walton rebounded Heath's miss and in one motion hit a fadeaway seven-footer at the buzzer to give the Aztecs their third win in 26 visits to the Marriott Center.
Sophomore forward Marcus Slaughter scored a game-high 17 points and added six rebounds. Heath, who was 0-for-8 with no points in the first half, connected on four straight field goals down the stretch and ended the game with 11 points. Walton, who was questionable for the game due to a hip flexor/groin strain, played 30 minutes and had 12 points and six rebounds.
UNLV, which through Monday has played the fourth most difficult schedule (according to the RPI), dropped its conference opener at Utah on Monday, 70-52. The Rebels are 5-2 at home this season (losses to Saint Mary's and sixth-ranked Oklahoma State), and are 27-8 in regular-season MWC home games since the formation of the conference prior to the 1999-00 season.
The Aztecs are looking for their third consecutive 2-0 start to league play but to accomplish that San Diego State will have to win their first two league road games of a conference season for just the second time in the school's 35 seasons at the Division I level (the 1984-85 NCAA squad opened Western Athletic Conference play with victories at Wyoming and Air Force).
UNLV leads the all-time series 27-7, including a 16-2 edge in games plays in Las Vegas and 10-1 advantage at the Thomas & Mack Center. The Aztecs two wins over UNLV in Sin City, both by three-point margins, occurred on Feb. 17, 1979 (94-91) and in the 2002 Mountain West Conference championship game (78-75) on March 9, 2002. The two games last season were decided by a total of eight points.