For a school—and a city—constantly trying to come up with a sports tradition, the San Diego State Aztecs had a pretty good idea on Saturday night against 13th ranked BYU. On “Blackout Saturday” at Viejas Arena, the 12,414 fans in attendance came dressed all in black.
Then the SDSU mens’ basketball team came out on the court. Dressed all in white.
It was the first bad sign for an Aztecs squad that came out backward, recovered, and then surrendered a 15-0 second-half run, succumbing to the Cougars 71-69.
Jimmer Fredette, the likely Mountain West Conference player of the year, battled through mononucleosis to score a game-high 33 points, leading BYU (20-1, 5-0 MWC) to a road victory. The Aztecs (14-6, 3-3) saw their 14-game home winning streak come to an end.
After the jump, watch postgame video from Steve Fisher, check out a photo gallery from the game, and more! Continue Reading →
Malcolm Thomas slams home two of his 20 points/(619 Sports photo/David Olender)
Each year, head coach Chris Carlson has started his season at UCSD by challenging the big boys down the road on Montezuma Mesa. It’s an opportunity for the Division II Tritons to step up their level of competition, while giving the D-I Aztecs a chance to knock off the rust and start the year with a win. And usually, the Tritons keep it close for a half.
The script played out to form Saturday afternoon in front of 5,520 fans at Viejas Arena. The Aztecs led the Tritons just 31-28 at the half before stifling them out of the locker room, opening the second half on a 16-0 run which led to a comfortable 77-52 victory.
Steve Fisher’s team is going to be a work in progress this year, but he has some impressive tools to work with, and more on the mend. With Billy White (wrist), Tyrone Shelley (foot) and Tim Shelton (knee) all sidelined by injury, the scoring load went to Malcolm Thomas and Brian Carlwell, two junior transfers who were making their SDSU debuts. Thomas scored 13 of his 20 points in the second half and added a game-high 9 rebounds. Carlwell added 9 points, 5 rebounds, a blocked shot and two steals.
Fisher deemed it a good start against an always determined opponent in UCSD:
UCSD head coach Chris Carlson thought the Tritons learned a lot in the matchup:
RT @SDsprtsFAN: thx guys, I missed the last part of the game. It was cool reading the PBP, did your fingers hurt after? <--no pain, just sad 10 hrs ago
RT @websoulsurfer: @619sports Do u think #SDSU can beat BYU's record of 24 apps w/o a W? <--#Aztecs could win 1 next year, every1's back 10 hrs ago
