Oct. 10, 2008
SAN DIEGO -
|
| No. 5: San Diego State 74, Missouri State 70 |
March 14, 2007 | Recap | Stats | Notes | Quotes
In its fourth postseason tournament appearance and second in a row under Steve Fisher, San Diego State was still in search of its first postseason victory outside the city limits of San Diego. In 2007, the Aztecs looked to rewrite the history books and give the school its first postseason road win since 1957 in a first-round MasterCard NIT matchup at Missouri State.
Why it was memorable: With 21 wins to its credit and coming off a devastating loss to Colorado State in the Mountain West Conference Championship quarterfinals, San Diego State received its second postseason invitation in as many years and was sent to take on the Bears of Missouri State in Springfield, Mo. The Aztecs were looking to make some noise in the tournament, but first had to get past a tough Missouri Valley Conference squad that had 22 wins coming into the first round.
For the first 13-and-half minutes it was all Bears as they led by as many as eight points, but an 11-0 San Diego State run put the Aztecs ahead by three with just under four minutes remaining in the first half. Following two Missouri State free throws, SDSU finished the period by outscoring the home team 7-3 to go into the locker room up 34-29.
The Scarlet and Black increased its lead to eight with over 15 minutes to play only to see the Bears go on an 11-1 run to reclaim the lead at 47-45 with 12:59 to go. Moments later, Missouri State went on another run, this time outscoring the Aztecs 13-5 and increasing its lead to six at the 7:26 mark.
In a game of runs, SDSU went on the offensive and scored nine straight points to move ahead, 63-60, with just over five minutes left in regulation. The Aztecs upped their lead to five, but a 6-1 spurt by MSU tied the contest at 70 with 41 seconds remaining.
Following a timeout and Brandon Heath with the ball, the senior dribbled to his left, pulled up for a deep 3-pointer and nailed it with seven seconds showing on the clock to break the tie and moving the Aztecs ahead, 73-70. With the game far from over, Mohamed Abukar fouled the Bears' Nathan Bilyeu who missed both free throws, effectively ending the game. Jer'Vaughn Johnson, who rebounded the miss, was fouled and added a free throw to provide the final score, 74-70, and give SDSU its first postseason win outside of San Diego.
Heath finished with a game-high 26 points, while Abukar tallied 15 points and six rebounds. The two went a combined 17-for-30 from the field (56.7 percent).