ANAHEIM -- Saint Mary's win over San Diego State came down to one big factor -- composure down the stretch. In a taut game from the start, the Gaels were clearly the better team in the final two minutes of the game and it showed up on the scoreboard.

The most glaring discrepancy is at the free throw line, where the Aztecs faltered at an 0-for-5 clip down the stretch. For the game they finished 8-for-18.

"You're not going to win if you don't make free throws," SDSU coach Steve Fisher said. "When you get there, you have to be able to make them and we were 8-for-18 from the free throw line."

Continue reading "Saint Mary's - SDSU Wrapup" »

Posted by Jason Owens at 06:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- In a game that was nip-and-tuck throughout, Saint Mary's proved to be best prepared for crunch time. The Gaels controlled the last two minutes of the game from the floor and at the foul line to pull out the 69-64 win over San Diego State.

The Aztecs looked frantic on offense and tired at the free throw line, missing their last six attempts at the line, which proved to be the difference in the game. I'll check back in after the press conference and in time for the feature matchup between Davidson and UCLA.

Posted by Jason Owens at 05:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- With the clock ticking under two minutes, San Diego State has just left four points off the board and trails Saint Mary's 63-60. Lorenzo Wade missed the front end of a one-and-one at about the 2:30 mark and Richie Williams just missed two free throws to keep the Gaels firmly in control. The Aztecs will know where to look if they don't end up pulling this one out.

Posted by Jason Owens at 04:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- At the final television timeout with 3:27 left on the clock, San Diego State just got a shot-clock beating layup from Billy White to cut Saint Mary's lead to 61-58. The Gaels looked ready to pull away, but San Diego State is determined to keep it close.

Posted by Jason Owens at 04:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- I'm sitting beside Steve Aminoff, a stringer for the Canberra Times out of Australia -- not exactly the media presence I expect to see at a college basketball game in Southern California. But after taking a look through the Saint Mary's bios, it makes sense.

Three Australian-born players suit up for the Gaels, including Aborigine Patrick Mills. Mills just happens to be the Gaels' best player and leading scorer with 16.3 points per game and even has NBA scouts checking him out.

Continue reading "Aussie Connection, Saint Mary's Takes Control" »

Posted by Jason Owens at 04:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ANAHEIM -- Through one half, Saint Mary's hasn't looked like the same team that beat Oregon as San Diego State has stifled the Gaels' offense into 32 percent shooting and opened a 29-24 lead. The vocal Aztec crowd, which traveled about 80 miles north on I-5 have had a lot to cheer about early in a game that could have big implications for both teams come March if either is sitting on the bubble.

Continue reading "Aztecs in Control at Halftime" »

Posted by Jason Owens at 03:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The feature presentation of the Wooden Classic pits UCLA against upstart Davidson in the late game, but the early game features the second best team in the country. That is if you trust the RPI. Believe it or not, after compiling wins over Drake, Seton Hall and Oregon en route to a 6-0 start, WCC power Saint Mary's is ranked No. 2 in the early season RPI.

Continue reading "So Much For Cinderella" »

Posted by Jason Owens at 03:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- I'm up and running at the Honda Center in Anaheim watching the undercard at the Wooden Classic. I'm jumping in a few minutes into the first half after clearing up some internet issues, but never fear; I've got all the action live between a pair of teams that aren't getting a lot of pub right now, but we may be hearing from in March.

San Diego State and Saint Mary's are both off to red-hot starts with just one loss between the two of them.

Continue reading "December Cinderella Story" »

Posted by Jason Owens at 03:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES - Loyola Marymount coach Rodney Tention almost looked surprised when asked about the freshmen players for San Diego State.

"You couldn't tell by the way they played," he said about Billy White and DJ Gay, who both made a major impact on San Diego State's 78-56 nonconference win over Loyola Marymount at Gersten Pavilion. "They were confident and executed the gameplan."

Continue reading "Freshmen, effort make the difference" »

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 12:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- LMU tried to get back in it but San Diego State pulled away for an easy 78-56 win. The Lions ended up with 25 turnovers and the Aztecs accounted for 19 steals . Ryan Amoroso led the way for SDSU with 19 points and seven rebounds. Lorrenzo Wade added 18 points and four rebounds while DJ Gay had a career-high 11 points in the win.

Sean Deadwiler led LMU with 14 points and was the only Lions player to score in double digits. More to come.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 11:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES - San Diego State coach Steve Fisher doesn't have a go-to guy like he did the past few seasons with Brandon Heath, the sensational shooting guard who played at Westchester High (which is just down the street from tonight's game at LMU). That doesn't mean the Aztecs don't look capable of enjoying a very good season.

DJ Gay and Richie Williams are both good point guards. Ryan Amoroso and Billy White are excellent around the basket and Lorrenzo Wade, who has 18 points tonight agianst LMU, is a solid small forward. Fisher has clearly done a nice job bringing in bouncebacks and mixing them with his high school recruits. Plus, he's recruiting Southern California very well. Gay could become a superstar as an upperclassman and players like Jer'Vaughn Johnson and Matt Thomas were commodities as high school players in the L.A. area.

The Aztecs are about to improve to 6-1 and while they might struggle against teams with any tall, talented post players, their athleticism should allow them to matchup with most teams.

Continue reading "No stars but looking good" »

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 11:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- No offense to Brian Lemos, who is clearly giving it his all, but things just don't sound right at Gersten Pavilion. Lemos is filling in as the public announcer (PA) for the Lions' home game against San Diego State tonight because long-time announcer Bernie Sandalow was unable to attend the game due to work obligations.

Sandalow has been announcing Lions' home games for 30 years, according to LMU media relations, and was courtside for the Paul Westhead era. Sandalow has joked on many occasions that he and the scoreboard operator were most overworked men in college basketball during the run-and-gun years with Bo Kimble and Hank Gathers. Unfortunately for him (and LMU), he couldn't say the same tonight. San Diego State has controlled it throughtout with a 57-44 lead with 10 minutes left in the contest.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 11:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- Basketball can be a funny thing, especially at the college level where players come and go for all sorts of reasons. San Diego State was on the receiving end this year with transfer Ryan Amoroso coming to the Aztecs from Marquette while LMU might be wondering how much better it could have been if point guard Damian Martin hadn't decided to sign a pro contract in his native Australia.

Continue reading "Coming and going" »

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 11:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES - Steve Fisher will surely have some things for his San Diego State team to work on at halftime despite taking a commanding 43-26 lead into the break. But one thing he won't have too much room to complain about is his team's nine steals in the first half.

The Aztecs forced 13 turnovers and plucked nine of them on their own. It helps to have a speedy point guard like DJ Gay, who also had three 3-pointers in the first half.

Continue reading "Better check for your wallet" »

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 10:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- San Diego State isn't an enormous team but 6-foot-8 forwards Ryan Amoroso and Billy White have been too much for Loyola Marymount in the first half. Amoroso, a junior transfer from Marquette has 10 points and five rebounds, while the freshman White has eight points and four rebounds. White is 3-for-3 from the field and made a pair of free throws. The pair of the Aztecs ahead, 38-22, with just over two minutes left in the first half.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 10:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LOS ANGELES -- After some technical difficulties (sorry about that), there's one thing which is clear - it doesn't take too many San Diego State fans to make a difference. Sure the Aztecs stormed to a 21-4 lead and now are up 25-12 but the SDSU fans (all 20 of them) tricked LMU junior guard Corey Counts into a rushed 3-point attempt with the old fake shot clock trick. That rushed shot didn't even hit the rim.

Too bad for LMU this game is at home at the renovated Gersten Pavilion, which looks very nice but isn't too loud right now. And its for good reason. Freshman DJ Gay, one of the top point guards in the L.A. City Section last year, already hit a 3-pointer and Steve Fisher's team is clearly much more athletic than a very young LMU squad.

Posted by Bob Holtzman at 10:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)