SAN DIEGO — By now, the BYU basketball team is wondering if it will ever win another road game this season. The Cougars are certainly running out of chances after losing their seventh straight road game Saturday at UNLV.
The Cougars get perhaps their best chance for a road breakthrough Monday night (8:30) at Cox Arena when they take on a San Diego State team that even their star player admits is in "disarray" right now.
The Aztecs fell to 2-6 in Mountain West Conference play Saturday afternoon in a convincing 70-53 loss to league-leading Utah. They were playing without head coach Steve Fisher, who is in Illinois with his ailing mother. He may also miss the BYU game.
"Our team is in a little disarray now," said SDSU's Randy Holcomb, who leads the MWC in both scoring and rebounding. "I just wish I knew what the problem is with our team. We always thought we had a homecourt advantage, but it doesn't seem that way."
The Aztecs, playing under assistant coach Brian Dutcher, jumped out to an 11-8 lead over Utah, but missed 14 of their next 15 shots as
the Utes went on a 19-4 run. By halftime the Utes led by 19 and although the Aztecs made a little run in the second half, it was too late.
BYU has been plagued by slow starts in their last three road games, at Air Force, Utah and UNLV. Against the Rebels, the Cougars fell behind 23-8 and trailed 43-31 at halftime.
They made a nice run in the second half led by Travis Hansen, who scored 21 points in 23 minutes. BYU tied the game at 70, but lost when Eric Booker sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Eric Nielsen also played well, scoring 14 points on six of 10 shooting before suffering a concussion late in the UNLV game. However, he had a CT scan after the game and has been cleared to play against the Aztecs.
At 4-4 in MWC play and 14-7 overall, the Cougars are in danger of falling into the second division of the league with a loss Monday night. The Cougs are tied with UNLV and New Mexico for third place and need some wins to get a decent seed for the upcoming MWC tournament.
BYU is expected to start Hansen, Nielsen, Jared Jensen, Mark Bigelow and Matt Montague. Jensen, the freshman center, had 12 points and seven rebounds in just 19 minutes Saturday.
SDSU will counter with Holcomb, Al Faux, Tony Bland, Mike Mackell and Deandre Moore, with Chris Walton and Brandon Smith as possible starters. Walton and Smith started against Utah in place of Mackell and Moore, who were punished for being late for a meeting.
After Monday's game, the Cougars return home for a pair of home games Saturday against New Mexico and Monday against Air Force.
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