Oct. 3, 2008
SAN DIEGO -
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| No. 6: San Diego State 91, Wyoming 72 |
Having wrapped up a share of the 2006 Mountain West Conference regular season crown with its victory at New Mexico, San Diego State had a chance to win the title outright going into its final conference game of the season at home vs. Wyoming. On paper, winning their first-ever outright championship would not be easy for the Aztecs especially after their one-point overtime thriller in Laramie earlier in the year. But on that night SDSU would not be denied and claimed just its third conference title as a Division I school in convincing fashion, 91-72.
Why it was memorable: Coming into the game, San Diego State had an opportunity that no other team in its Division I history had done - win an outright regular season championship. Anticipation was at an all-time season high as 12,414 fans packed Cox Arena to produce the Aztecs' first sellout of the year. Not only did the game provide the chance of winning the league title outright, it was also SDSU's first opportunity to get to 20 wins for the first time since the 2001-02 season.
At the start, the game was close. By the end, it was like most Aztec decisions that year - a double-digit win.
Both teams traded baskets in the early going with Wyoming taking the biggest lead of the game up to that point, 15-12, on a layup by Chris Anderson with 12:38 left in the half. A three-pointer by Brandon Heath tied the game at 15, signaling the beginning of the end for the Cowboys.
The Aztecs went on to score 13 unanswered points and ultimately went on a 32-5 run before going into the locker room ahead 46-24. To make matters worse for the Cowboys, seven turnovers during that span led directly to 14 San Diego State points.
In the second half, Wyoming opened with a mini 6-2 run to cut the Aztec lead to 18, but SDSU neutralized the Cowboy attack and eventually went ahead by 30 points, 74-44, following a pair of Richie Williams' free throws with 10:21 left in the contest.
With the contest already in the Aztecs' favor, Wyoming finished the game on a 28-17 run leading to San Diego State's 19-point, outright MWC regular season title clinching victory. As the buzzer sounded, the SDSU student section rushed the court to celebrate what would be the first of two San Diego State Mountain West championships that year.
Mohamed Abukar finished with a career- and game-high 26 points and was joined by fellow 20-point scorer Marcus Slaughter who added 20 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Others to score in double figures were Heath (13 points), Kyle Spain (12) and John Sharper (11).