Feb. 24, 2007
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SAN DIEGO -
San Diego State-Brigham Young Postgame Notes in PDF Format
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Final Score: San Diego State 86 21st/22nd-ranked Brigham Young 74
Record: 20-8
Mountain West Conference Record: 9-5
Next Game: at Utah, Tue., Feb. 27; 7 p.m. MST (6 p.m. PST); TV: The mtn.
TOP NOTES
* - San Diego State has won consecutive games against nationally-ranked opponents for the first time since 1988 and has defeated two ranked teams in the same calendar month for the first time since December, 1978.
* - San Diego State has won two straight games and seven of its last eight contests. During that span, SDSU has defeated three teams ranked among the top 20 teams in today's current RPI (11th-ranked UNLV, 16th-ranked Air Force and 20th-ranked BYU).
* - San Diego State has consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time in the Division I era and the first time in 40 seasons.
* - Senior guard Brandon Heath had a game-high 30 points. He now has consecutive 30-point scoring games for the first time in his career. He added seven assists, seven rebounds and four steals.
* - Senior forward Mohamed Abukar scored a career-high 27 points on 11-of-16 field goal shooting.
* - Today's game was San Diego State's fifth sellout in Cox Arena history, the second sellout of the season and the third sellout in the last 17 home games.
TEAM NOTES
* - San Diego State improves to 20-8, matching its best 28-game record since the 1984-85 squad opened the campaign 21-7. The 2006-07 Aztec squad owns the second best record after 28 games in the school's 36 seasons at the Division I level and has the exact same record as the 2005-06 record-setting squad posted after the same amount of games. Last season, SDSU won a Division I era school-record 24 games en route to winning the MWC regular season title, conference tournament championship and a berth in the NCAA tournament.
* - San Diego State has won seven of its last eight games, including three Mountain West Conference road games and victories over three top 20 RPI teams during that stretch.
* - San Diego State is now 13-2 at home this season and have won 24 of its last 27 games at Cox Arena dating back to last season. * - San Diego State is 5-1 this month and continues the strong late season play it started last season. Since the beginning of 2006, SDSU is 15-4 after February 1st. * - The Aztecs led by as many as 23 points in the game marking the third time (Air Force, UNLV and Brigham Young) in the last five games that SDSU has enjoyed at least a 23-point game.
* - This marks the third time this season the Aztecs have led a game wire-to-wire. SDSU never trailed in the games against UC San Diego, 15th/13th ranked Air Force and 21st/22nd-ranked Brigham Young. It is the 21st time the Aztecs have led a game wire-to-wire in the Steve Fisher era. * - San Diego State shot 57.6 percent from the field for the game, the highest percentage for the Aztecs since shooting 60.7 percent against California on Nov. 18, 2006. The Aztecs are 9-0 this season and 47-12 under Steve Fisher when shooting 50 percent or better from the floor.
* - The Aztecs held Brigham Young to 44.8 percent from the field, including 36.0 percent in the first half. The 44.8 percent shooting for the Cougars is actually the second highest percentage for an SDSU opponent in the last 10 games.
* - San Diego State had just 11 turnovers and was a +8 in the category. That makes the Aztecs 13-3 this season and 75-34 in the Steve Fisher era when SDSU has fewer turnovers in a game.
* - San Diego State has won 25 consecutive games at Cox Arena when leading by 10 points at time during the contest.
* - San Diego State improved to 13-3 this season and 90-26 in the Steve Fisher era when leading at the half.
* - The Aztecs are 17-3 this season and 99-26 in the Steve Fisher era when owning a better field goal percentage in the game.
THE SERIES WITH THE COUGARS
* - San Diego State is now 20-40 all-time against the Cougars... Seven of the victories have come while Steve Fisher has been coach on The Mesa.
* - The Aztecs have won four straight against the Cougars in San Diego and have won four of the last six encounters overall.
* - San Diego State has now won its most recent encounter with seven of the eight other Mountain West Conference schools (Wyoming).
A 20-WIN SEASON
* - The Aztecs have now posted consecutive 20-win campaigns for the first time in the Division I era and the first time since winning 24 games in 1966- 67 and 21 games in 1967-68.
* - This is the third 20-win season under Steve Fisher, fifth 20-win season of the Division I era and the 12th 20-win campaign in the 86-year history of Aztec Basketball. It marks SDSU's third 20-win season in the last six seasons under Steve Fisher after posting no 20-win seasons in the previous 16 seasons, just two 20-win seasons in the previous 33 seasons.
* - Steve Fisher now has nine 20-win seasons in 16 full seasons as a head coach.
MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE NOTES
* - San Diego State has won seven of its last eight games and has clinched a winning league record with two games to play. This will mark the first time the Aztecs have posted consecutive winning conference records since 1981-82 and 1982-83 seasons. SDSU was 11-5 and finished tied for second in the WAC in 1982 and went 8-8 and tied for fifth place in 1983.
* - The Aztecs are guaranteed a top three finish in the Mountain West Conference. Coupled with last season's conference championship, San Diego State has consecutive top four league finishes for the first time since the 1976-77, 1977-78 PCAA campaigns.
ATTENDANCE
* - Today's game was soldout (12,414), marking the second sellout of the season and the fifth sellout in Cox Arena history and the history of the program... This was the third home sellout in the last 17 home games.
* - San Diego State has now drawn 116,443 fans for 15 home games for an average of 7,763 per game... That is above the school-record average of 7,172 set during the 2002-03 season... Last season, the Aztecs average home attendance was 7,014, which currently ranks second best in school history.
* - This was the largest home crowd ever for an Aztec home day game... The previous high was 9,156 set against Utah on Feb. 11, 2006 (Utah won 67-65)
* - Below is a list of San Diego State sellouts:
Dec. 7, 2002 (1/1) Arizona L, 81-89
Jan. 6, 2003 (23/21) Texas Tech L, 63-75
Mar. 1, 2006 Wyoming W, 91-72
Dec. 9, 2006 (14/15) Arizona L, 48-69
Feb. 24, 2007 (21/22) Brigham Young W, 86-74
* - Seven of the eight largest home crowds in school history have now occurred in the Steve Fisher era (lone exception: seventh-ranked North Carolina on Dec. 29, 1988 in the Sports Arena (13,106)).
Brandon Heath (game-high 30 points, game-high seven assists, game-high tying seven rebounds, four steals)
Senior guard Brandon Heath reached the 30-point plateau for the fifth time in his career and his second consecutive 30-point effort... This is the first time the senior has recorded consecutive 30-point games in his career... Heath reached double figures for the 53rd consecutive game... Heath scored 14 points in the first 9:37 of the game and 18 points in the first 13:02 of the contest... The senior recorded his third consecutive 20-point game and now has 14 20- point games this season and 52 in his career... Heath's 12 field goals ties his career high and his seven assists matches a season best... He has scored 82 points in his last three games... The Aztecs are 8-1 this season and 16-3 since the beginning of the 2005-06 campaign when heath shoots 50 percent or better from the field... The Aztecs are 13-3 this season and 29-8 since 2005-06 when he has more assists than turnovers... He was 11-of-16 from inside the arc today.
Mohamed Abukar (career-high 27 points, 11-16 FGs)
Senior forward Mohamed Abukar tallied in double figures for the 23rd time in 27 games this season, with a career-high 27 point effort... He has 42 career double-figure scoring games... The Aztecs are 18-5 this season and 31-9 in his career when Abukar gets to double figures... Today marked his sixth 20- plus point scoring contest... Abukar set a new personal high for field goals in a game... SDSU is 10-2 this season and 19-4 in his career when Abukar shoots 50 percent or better from the floor.
Lorrenzo Wade (10 points, five rebounds, three assists)
Sophomore forward Lorrenzo Wade hit double figures for the 18th time this season and the ninth time in the last 13 games... Wade getting to doublefigures is a good indicator for the Aztecs as SDSU is 15-3 when the sophomore gets 10 or more points in a game... The sophomore had another all-around good game, as he had five rebounds, three assists and a steal in 30 minutes of action.
Jerome Habel (12 points, four rebounds, 6-8 FGs)
Jerome Habel shot above 50 percent (6-8) for the 20th time this season and recorded his 13th double-figure scoring game... The Aztecs are 9-4 when the junior scores in double figures.
Richie Williams (five assists, four steals, two rebounds)
The sophomore point guard had five assists and two turnovers in the contest... The Aztecs improve to 14-1 this season when Williams has at least five assists in a game... Williams had four steals in the contest, he now has 12 steals in his last four games and has posted more assists than turnovers in seven of his last eight games.