March 18, 2007
San Diego State Game Notes at Syracuse (Mon., March 19, 2007) in PDF Format
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San Diego St. (22-10/10-6) at Syracuse (23-10/10-6)
NIT - Second Round
Monday, March 19, 2007
7:05 p.m. EDT (tip)
Carrier Dome (33,633)
Syracuse, N.Y.
Television
ESPNU. Dave Ryan (play-by-play), Jack Armstrong (analysis) and Chris Day (producer).
Channel Listings: DirecTV channel 609, Dish Network channel 148 and the game will be simulcast on Cox Cable Channel 4 San Diego.
Satellite Information: To be announced.
Radio
XX Sports Radio 1090-AM and 105.7-FM. Ted Leitner (play-by-play) will call the action. Pregame coverage begins 30 minutes prior to tip-off with Jack Cronin serving as host.
Web
Live audio and real-time statistics are available on SDSU's official athletic department web site at goaztecs.com.
Aztecs Look for Second Straight Postseason Road Win; Travel Cross-Country to Face Syracuse on Mon.
San Diego State (22-10; 10-6 Mountain West Conference), one of only 28 teams still alive in the 2007 postseason (NCAA and NIT tournaments combined) when it takes the floor on Monday night, looks to pull its second road upset of the postseason when the Aztecs face Syracuse (23-10; 10-6 Big East Conference) on Monday night.
Tip time at the Carrier Dome for the second round MasterCard NIT game is set for 7:05 p.m. EDT (4:05 p.m. PDT) and the contest will be televised by ESPNU (also carried by Cox Cable Channel 4 San Diego). The contest can be heard up and down the West Coast on XX Sports Radio (1090-AM and 105.7-FM in San Diego).
The Aztecs, the sixth-seeded team in the South Region, were one of just three road teams to pull a first round upset when SDSU defeated Missouri State, 74-70, on Wednesday night in Springfield, Mo.
Senior guard Brandon Heath used a crossover move to free himself of a defender and hit a 22-foot jumper with 5.3 seconds remaining to break a 70-all tie and lift the Aztecs to victory. It marked the eighth time in his career that the senior has hit a shot in the final 1:45 of a game to give SDSU a lead it did not relinquish or hit a shot to force overtime. Heath ended the contest with a game-high 26 points on 11-of-21 shooting and connected on four three-point field goals. The senior has now scored in double figures in 57 consecutive games and he posted his 54th career game with 20 or more points on Wednesday.
Senior forward Mohamed Abukar scored 13 points after intermission and ended the game with 15 points and six rebounds. Junior forward Jerome Habel recorded his second career double-double with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, while sophomore point guard Richie Williams continued his stellar play with six points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals.
The victory was SDSU's second postseason win in 37 seasons at the Division I level and marked the first time the Aztecs won a postseason game outside of San Diego (road or neutral game) since winning a second round NCAA Division II tournament game at Regis (Colo.) College on March 9, 1957. The Aztecs went 50 years and six days between postseason victories outside of "America's Finest City".
Although the two programs have not shared the same history, Wednesday will feature two of the 12 active coaches with a NCAA Championship to their credit in Steve Fisher and Jim Boeheim. The two coaches, who have never squared off as head coaches against one another, each have three Final Four appearances, to rank seventh among active coaches. All three of Fisher's Final Four appearances resulted in trips to the title game. In addition, Fisher, who is one of just 10 coaches all time to claim both an NCAA and postseason NIT championship, owns a 27-10 postseason record (NCAA and postseason NIT) and a 7-2 mark in NIT games.
San Diego State is looking to win a second postseason game in the same season for the first time since 1967 when the Aztecs advanced to the Division II quarterfinal game.