SAN DIEGO ---- Brandon Heath was distraught after Saturday's overtime loss to Wyoming. The San Diego State sophomore guard looked weary and drained, as if the game had sapped every ounce of energy from his body.
A disappointing men's basketball defeat had just derailed the Aztecs' dreams of a 3-0 start in Mountain West Conference play. Then it hit Heath that tipoff for another game was fewer than 48 hours away.
"The best thing about college basketball is you don't have to wait a week like football," Heath said. "We have to bounce back and see our mistakes and learn from them and be ready for Colorado State on Monday night."
Tonight's game against Colorado State is a big one for the Aztecs. Not only will it be televised nationally as part of ESPN's "Big Monday," but it will determine whether San Diego State is a contender or pretender in the conference race.
The Aztecs surprised everybody by opening league play with road victories at Brigham Young and Nevada-Las Vegas. But then the Aztecs lost 88-81 at home to Wyoming, a team that hadn't won a conference road game in 23 months.
Tonight's opponent is similarly poor away from its home court. Colorado State (9-8, 1-3) is winless in its last 15 road games and 0-7 on the road this season.
Lose to the Rams, and the Aztecs (8-8, 2-1) will be at .500 in Mountain West play despite the two road victories.
"It's a must-win on Monday night," Heath said. "Every game should be a must-win, but we have to be ready for Colorado State.
"More than anything, we have to worry about ourselves first."
Good point. The Aztecs let an 11-point first-half lead slip away in the loss to Wyoming. They were outrebounded 47-28 and allowed Wyoming to shoot 63 percent from the field in the second half.
They had a three-point lead with under three minutes left and didn't seal the deal.
"Every game is going to come down to the last two or three minutes," sophomore forward Marcus Slaughter said. "We've won some tough games in the final two or three minutes. We let that team come back, but we're a good enough team where we can close out games."
To win tonight, the Aztecs must at least slow down Colorado State center Matt Nelson. The 7-foot-1 Nelson has dominated San Diego State throughout his college career. In five games against the Aztecs, he's averaging 19.6 points and 7.2 rebounds and shooting 78 percent (32-of-41) from the field.
"Nelson has a highlight tape with how we've played against him," Aztecs coach Steve Fisher said.
Wyoming's victory over the Aztecs was the sixth road win in MWC play this season. Last season, road teams went just 13-43 in conference play.
"Maybe we're flipping in reverse this season," Fisher said. "We now have six road wins by teams in this league, and this was the toughest league in America to win on the road last year. Maybe it's going to be the opposite, and we'll have more road wins in the history of the league."
A disappointing men's basketball defeat had just derailed the Aztecs' dreams of a 3-0 start in Mountain West Conference play. Then it hit Heath that tipoff for another game was fewer than 48 hours away.
"The best thing about college basketball is you don't have to wait a week like football," Heath said. "We have to bounce back and see our mistakes and learn from them and be ready for Colorado State on Monday night."
Tonight's game against Colorado State is a big one for the Aztecs. Not only will it be televised nationally as part of ESPN's "Big Monday," but it will determine whether San Diego State is a contender or pretender in the conference race.
The Aztecs surprised everybody by opening league play with road victories at Brigham Young and Nevada-Las Vegas. But then the Aztecs lost 88-81 at home to Wyoming, a team that hadn't won a conference road game in 23 months.
Tonight's opponent is similarly poor away from its home court. Colorado State (9-8, 1-3) is winless in its last 15 road games and 0-7 on the road this season.
Lose to the Rams, and the Aztecs (8-8, 2-1) will be at .500 in Mountain West play despite the two road victories.
"It's a must-win on Monday night," Heath said. "Every game should be a must-win, but we have to be ready for Colorado State.
"More than anything, we have to worry about ourselves first."
Good point. The Aztecs let an 11-point first-half lead slip away in the loss to Wyoming. They were outrebounded 47-28 and allowed Wyoming to shoot 63 percent from the field in the second half.
They had a three-point lead with under three minutes left and didn't seal the deal.
"Every game is going to come down to the last two or three minutes," sophomore forward Marcus Slaughter said. "We've won some tough games in the final two or three minutes. We let that team come back, but we're a good enough team where we can close out games."
To win tonight, the Aztecs must at least slow down Colorado State center Matt Nelson. The 7-foot-1 Nelson has dominated San Diego State throughout his college career. In five games against the Aztecs, he's averaging 19.6 points and 7.2 rebounds and shooting 78 percent (32-of-41) from the field.
"Nelson has a highlight tape with how we've played against him," Aztecs coach Steve Fisher said.
Wyoming's victory over the Aztecs was the sixth road win in MWC play this season. Last season, road teams went just 13-43 in conference play.
"Maybe we're flipping in reverse this season," Fisher said. "We now have six road wins by teams in this league, and this was the toughest league in America to win on the road last year. Maybe it's going to be the opposite, and we'll have more road wins in the history of the league."
