March 21, 2015
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By Mick McGrane (@MickOnTheMesa)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Shortly after being charged with his second foul in the second half of San Diego State's 76-64 NCAA Tournament win over St. John's Friday night, Aztecs senior guard Aqeel Quinn went to the bench...and never returned.
Coach Steve Fisher said Quinn, who has started 26 of the team's 32 games this season, may have contracted food poisoning.
"At our open shoot-around (on Thursday), he came into the arena feeling good," Fisher said. "Toward the end, he told Tom (trainer Abdenour) that he didn't feel great, that he had a knot in his stomach. By the time we got back (to the team hotel), he could hardly stand.
"I think they've attributed it to some form of food poisoning. He had an IV (Thursday) night. He had another IV (Friday) morning and he was still probably feeling pretty miserable, but he said, 'I'm good to go.' He tried and competed, like AQ competes, but he was obviously not at full strength. Hopefully, we'll have a day and a half to get him ready, because we'll need him.*
Polee Comes Out Firing
Dwayne Polee II wasted little time taking aim at his former team.
Polee, who transferred to SDSU from St. John's following his freshman season in 2010-11, hit the first three three-pointers he attempted and went 4-of-6 from beyond the arc in the first half. He connected on his fifth and final three-pointer just 36 seconds into the second half.
"My teammates found me in positions where I could shoot the ball," said Polee, whose career high for three-point field goals in a game was three. "I found myself open a lot because we have a lot of great players on this team.
"Coach Fisher does a great job of telling me to shoot your shot."
Points After
* Friday night's victory put SDSU into the NCAA Tournament's Round of 32 for the third straight year. The Aztecs are one of nine schools in the nation to accomplish the feat.
* Senior forward JJ O'Brien, who led the Aztecs with 18 points, has made 13 straight free-throw attempts. In his last 13 games on the road or at neutral sites, he is averaging 13.9 points while shooting 50.3 percent.
* Since 2011, SDSU's six NCAA Tournament wins are tied for 16th nationally with, among others, Duke.
* The Aztecs have responded from their last 18 losses with a win in the game immediately following, the longest streak in the country. They have also gone 81 straight games without suffering a two-game losing streak, the longest active streak in the country.