Cougars to face athletic Aztecs

SAN DIEGO — BYU can take a significant step toward winning its second outright Mountain West men's basketball title tonight when the Cougars invade Cox Arena, a place they've struggled with San Diego State the past two seasons.

The Cougars stand 21-5 overall and 10-1 in league play and hold a two-game lead over second-place UNLV, which plays at Wyoming today. The Aztecs (17-9, 7-5) are 9-3 at home, a place Steve Fisher's team tends to get fired up for the Cougars.

Although SDSU is 5-5 in its last 10 games and misses second-leading scorer Kyle Spain, whom Fisher suspended for the rest of the season, BYU players know they will have to bring their A-game if they want to extend their nine-game winning streak.

"We haven't had that much success there lately," said junior Lee Cummard. "We've been playing very well lately, and we'll have to be at our best if we want to have a chance to win."

The Aztecs like to extend their defense, do some pressing and disrupt the offense of visitors, said BYU coach Dave Rose.

"They've really done a good job of winning home games, but they also have a great road win at The Pit in New Mexico. It's a long process, a game-by-game effort," said Rose.

SDSU's backcourt of Matt Thomas and D.J. Gay could hold the key for the Aztecs, as they will try and use their speed to set up leading scorer Lorrenzo Wade and force mistakes from BYU's players.

"What SDSU brings to the table is an extremely athletic team, maybe the most athletic team from top to bottom in our league," said Rose. "They've got good players in every position and a lot of depth. We're going to have to handle their athleticism.

"We need to take care of the ball, outrebound them and be physical. This game will be very physical, similar to the game we played with Utah."

The Cougars lost in San Diego a year ago, 86-74, ending an eight-game win streak. However, the Cougars survived and still won the league title. But after this game, BYU plays New Mexico in The Pit on Wednesday.

The last time BYU defeated SDSU here was in 2003 when the Cougars captured an 80-69 win.

"We've played well against San Diego State at home, but they're a totally different type of team than they've had the last few years with Brandon Heath and Marcus Slaughter. They're built differently. They penetrate more, get to the basket and rely on a lot of second shots," said Rose.

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E-mail: dharmon@desnews.com