SAN DIEGO STATE 2005-06 BASKETBALL - GAME NO. 15 SAN DIEGO STATE (8-6/1-1 MWC) at UTAH (8-5/1-1 MWC) BASKETBALL GAME NOTES Wed., Jan. 11, 2006 X Salt Lake City, Utah X Huntsman Center (15,000) 6:05 p.m. PST X Radio: XPRS 1090-AM X Television: Channel 4 San Diego San Diego State Looks for Fifth Win in Seven Outings; Travels to Salt Lake Inside... City Looking for Second-Ever Win at the Huntsman Center The two teams that picked to finish first and second in the Mountain West Player Bios . .Page 12 Conference preseason media poll meet Wednesday night in Salt Lake City, MWC Standings Last Time . .Page 26 as preseason league favorite San Diego State (8-6 overall; 1-1 MWC) faces MWC Overall Game Recaps . .Page 31 2005 league champion Utah (8-5; 1-1). Pl. Team W L W L Statistics . .Page 40 The 58th all-time meeting between the teams is scheduled for a 7:05 p.m. 1. Air Force 2 0 14 1 MST start (6:05 p.m. PST). The game will be broadcast back to the San Diego 2. UNLV 1 0 7 6 Brandon Heath and the market on Channel 4 San Diego, with Steve Quis and Jim Brogan calling the 3. X SDSU 1 1 8 6 current Aztecs have been action. Salt Lake City station KJZZ-TV will also broadcast the game, with its Brigham Young 1 1 9 4 impressive from three-point feed available nationally on ESPN’s Full Court. XPRS-1090 will provide New Mexico 1 1 10 5 range against the Utes. radio coverage in San Diego with Ted Leitner providing play-by-play. Utah 1 1 8 5 Heath is a career 47.8 per- San Diego State is looking to rebound following a heartbreaking 65-62 Wyoming 1 1 8 7 cent three-point shooter and loss at Air Force on Saturday. The Aztecs, playing with MWC preseason 8. TCU 0 1 4 11 5-of-6 from bonus distance player of the year Marcus Slaughter (recovering from a second-degree MCL 9. Colorado State 0 2 11 4 at the Huntsman Center last season. injury to his left knee) and MWC preseason newcomer of the year Wednesday, January 11 Z Utah-SDSU: The Series, Mohamed Abukar (102 degree temperature) less than 100 percent, took Air San Diego State at Utah, 6 p.m. PT page 3 Force to the games’ final possession before the Falcons were able to win for Brigham Young at UNLV, 6 p.m. PT the 35th time in 36 home games. Air Force at Wyoming, 6 p.m. PT Remember the J. Geils Junior guard Brandon Heath tied his career-high with his fourth consec- TCU at New Mexico, 8 p.m. PT utive 20-point scoring game, tallying a game-high 21 points on 5-of-7 shoot- Band? We will tell you what ing from three-point range. Slaughter added 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds. SDSU shot 56.8 percent from the field On Golden Pond and Toto and owned a 27-17 rebound advantage but was unable to overcome 13-of-26 three-point shooting by Air Force. have to do with the Utah- Utah is 8-4 overall and 1-1 in league play following a 72-60 loss at Brigham Young on SDSU Series. Saturday. The Utes are 39-2 in its last 41 home games since the beginning of the 2003-04 sea- Z 1982, page 3-4 son, the sixth best home winning per- X San Diego State centage during that time. San Diego State has shot Record; MWC: 8-6; 1-1 MWC The Aztecs will be looking to snap a 50.0 percent or better from Last Game: at Air Force (L, 62-65) the field in three straight X The Series six-game overall losing streak to the Utes Streak; Last 5: L, 1; 3-2 games for the first time This will be the 58th meeting between San Diego rpiratings/collegerpi: 124/124 and improve on a 1-26 record versus since the 2002-03 season. State and Utah, with the Utes owning a 48-9 series Head Coach: Steve Fisher Utah at the Huntsman Center and a 1-27 Z lead. The Utes have won six straight series meet- Career Record: 273-185 (15th full) mark against the Utes in Salt Lake City. Shooting 50 percent from ings with the Aztecs last win coming on Jan. 18, SDSU Record: 89-103 (7th) SDSU’s lone road win in the series came the field, page 6 2003. Utah has won 20 of the last 21 games played vs. Utah: 3-12 on Feb. 25, 1982, 14 months before between the teams and SDSU is 1-26 lifetime at Junior guard Brandon the Huntsman Center. X Utah SDSU’s oldest player, Trimaine Davis, was born and Steve Fisher was in his Heath is making a case for X Player Note Record; MWC: 8-5; 1-1 MWC MWC Player of the Year. Last Game: at BYU (L, 60-72) final season as an assistant coach at SDSU junior guard Brandon Heath has connected Streak; Last 5: L, 1; 3-2 Western Michigan. Find all of his accomplish- on 11 of his career 23 attempts (47.8 percent) from rpiratings/collegerpi: 108/109 ments, including the fact he three-point range against Utah. He is averaging Following the game at Utah, San Head Coach: Ray Giacoletti is 18-for-31 (58.1 percent) 12.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists in five Diego State will play three of its next Career Record: 154-94 (9th) from three-point range in career meetings with Utah. Junior forward Marcus four games at home, beginning with Utah Record: 37-11 (2nd) Slaughter is averaging 10.5 points and is shooting his last four games. vs. San Diego State: 3-2 Saturday’s game against UNLV at Cox 53.3 percent from the field versus Utah. Arena. Game time is set for 7:05 p.m. Z Heath Bio, page 14 Aztecs At-A-Glance (8-6 Overall/1-1 Mountain West) No. Name (Career G/GS) Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. PPG RPG Misc. Note X - Probable Starters 00 Brett Hoerner (11/0) F 6-11 206 Fr. 2.1 1.1 4 blks. CH 9 pts., 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 blocked shots and 14 MP vs. UCSB 1 X Brandon Heath (73/68) G 6-4 198 Jr. 17.6 2.6 2.4 apg 90 pts. in last 4 gms. (22.5 ppg); Made 18 of last 31 3FGA (58.1 pct.) 3 X Richie Williams (14/13) G 5-9 158 Fr. 5.2 2.4 3.4 apg 18 assists and eight steals in last three games; Made last 10 free throws 15 John Sharper (100/26) G 6-0 190 Sr. 8.4 1.1 42.0 3FGs 10+ points in 6 of last 12 games; 2 or more 3’s in 12 of last 13 games 20 Trimaine Davis (79/11) C 6-7 235 Sr. 7.4 3.3 70.5 FGs In his 6 games back following knee inj.: 38 pts., 24 rebs., 17-23 FGs 21 Matt Thomas (43/12) G 6-3 200 So. 1.4 1.1 1.1 apg CH 7 assists vs. USM; One turnover or less in 11 of 14 games 24 Tim McGrath (10/0) F 6-5 187 Fr. 0.9 1.4 8.4 mpg Played in 10 of last 13 games; Logged 11+ mins. in 4 of his last 6 games 30 Chris Lamb (4/0) F 6-10 231 Fr. 0.5 0.0 0.5 bpg Grew nine inches during his prep career; Played CH 13 min. vs. WSU 33 X Kyle Spain (14/13) F 6-5 218 Fr. 10.8 6.6 1.4 spg CH 18 points at Providence; 51.8 FG pct.; SDSU 6-1 when he scores 10+ 34 X Mohamed Abukar (41/3) F 6-10 216 Jr. 12.5 3.5 1.5 apg MWC preseason newcomer of the year; CH 22 pts. (10-12 FGs) vs. CSU 42 X Marcus Slaughter (68/56) F 6-9 220 Jr. 15.7 10.2 2.1 apg Returned to lineup vs. CSU 18 days after MCL injury to left knee 50 Mohamed Camara (43/29) C 6-10 245 Sr. 3.5 5.7 51.2 FGs Speaks 6 languages; First career double-double vs. USD (10 pts., 10 rebs.) Head Coach: Steve Fisher (Illinois State, 1967) • 273-185 (15th full season overall) • 89-103 (seventh season at SDSU) Assistant Head Coach: Brian Dutcher (Minnesota, 1982) Assistant Coaches: Gregg Gottlieb (UCLA, 1995), Mark Hughes (Michigan, 1989) Director of Operations: Mark Fisher (Michigan, 2001) Director of Player Development: Matt Soria (San Diego State, 2001) Athletic Trainer: Mark Haines (Metropolitan State College, 1987) Schedule/Results Date Opponent (Television) Time/Result Note Record RPI Sagarin BP Top of the World Classic (Fairbanks, Alaska) N.17 at Alaska Fairbanks W, 67-55 X Slaughter 13th career double-double (16 pts., 11 rebs.); Heath 23 pts., Davis CH 13 pts. 9-4 --- --- N.19 vs. Illinois-Chicago L, 63-66 X Rebounds: UIC 36-30; Heath only Aztec player to reach double figures (18 pts.) 8-7 79 118 N.20 vs. Southern Mississippi W, 79-51 X Aztecs use 40-9 run to blow game open; Break school-record with 76.9 3FG pct.