Feb. 22, 2008
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State Game Notes | SDSU Broadcast Flip Card | Brigham Young Game Notes
Brigham Young (21-5/10-1 MWC) at San Diego State (17-9/7-5 MWC)
Television: CSTV (Cox Cable - 321, Time Warner - 415, DirecTV - 610, and Dish Network - 152) - Tom Hart (play-by-play), Sean Farnham (analysis)
Radio: AM 600 KOGO - Ted Leitner (play-by-play).
San Diego State Set to Face Conference-Leading Brigham Young on National TV Saturday Night at Cox Arena
San Diego State (17-9 overall; 7-5 Mountain West Conference) looks to clinch a third consecutive winning season in league play for the first time in the Division I era and the first time since 1966, 1967 and 1968, on Saturday night at Cox Arena when the Aztecs play host to Mountain West Conference-leading Brigham Young (21-5 overall; 10-1 MWC).
Tip time is set for 8:05 p.m. PT and the contest will be televised nationally by CSTV (San Diego Cox Cable channel 321, San Diego/North County Time Warner channel 415, DirecTV channel 610, and Dish Network channel 152) and can be heard on AM 600 KOGO.
The Aztecs snapped a three-game losing streak, its longest since March 2005, on Tuesday night with a 79-68 victory over Wyoming. The Aztecs rallied from a three-point halftime deficit and used a 21-10 run early in the second half to seize control of the game.
The Aztecs grabbed 17 offensive boards, owned a 35-25 rebound advantage and committed just eight turnovers in the game to complete the season sweep of the Cowboys.
Freshman forward Billy White scored a game-high 19 points and added a career-high and game-high 12 rebounds, including 17 points and eight rebounds after intermission. Junior forward Lorrenzo Wade added 14 points and a team-high three assists. Junior point guard Richie Williams came off the bench to score 13 points and added three steals. Junior center Ryan Amoroso reached double-figures for a career-best fourth straight game, narrowly missing a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds. Freshman guard D.J. Gay continued his hot shooting with a 3-for-5 performance from beyond the arc and reached double figures for the second consecutive game with 11 points.
Saturday's game is pivotal as SDSU tries to close in on its third consecutive 20-win season (last accomplished in 1938-39, 1939-40 and 1940-41) and improve its seeding prior to next month's MWC Championships in Las Vegas. The Aztecs are currently in fourth place, one game behind New Mexico for third and just one-and-a-half games behind second-place UNLV.
Head Coach Steve Fisher has once again exceeded preseason expectations, as SDSU has been among the league leaders throughout the course of the season despite losing the MWC's all-time leading scorer Brandon Heath and all-conference performer Mohamed Abukar off last season's squad and losing starting forward Tim Shelton (missed 22 games) due to injury, starting forward Kyle Spain to injury and team suspension (missed six games) and starting point guard Richie Williams mostly due to a broken left wrist (missed eight games).
Brigham Young leads the MWC by two full games and has won nine consecutive games dating back to a 29-point loss at UNLV on Jan. 15. The Cougars have won their last seven games by at least 10 points and have an average winning margin of 15.1 points during that span.
San Diego State and Brigham Young are meeting for the 62nd time with the Cougars owning a 41-20 series lead. The teams have split the season series each of the last two seasons and the home team has won six consecutive games in the series. The Aztecs are 16-15 lifetime in San Diego, 5-5 at Cox Arena and have won the last three home meetings against Brigham Young.
Earlier this season, the Cougars defeated the Aztecs, 59-56, at the Marriott Center on Jan. 23. It was the only time this season that Brigham Young has won a home game by fewer than 11 points until this past Wednesday when it beat Utah by eight at home.
San Diego State had three chances in the final 33 seconds to snap Brigham Young's 40-game home winning streak, but fell short as the Cougars escaped with the three-point victory to hand the Aztecs their first league defeat of the season.