SDSU defense corrals Cowboys Antonio Morales
WEDNESDAY January 25, 2012 Volume 97, Issue 62 W W W.T H E D A I LYA Z T E C . C O M
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SDSU’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT N E W S PA P E R SINCE 1913
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INDEX: SDSU 52 | WYO 42 After having to spend the night in Cedar City, Utah and arriving in Laramie, Wyo. only about five hours prior to tipoff, because of some travel difficulties, it would have come as no surprise to see the San Diego State men’s basketball team go through the motions against the Wyoming Cowboys. SDSU trailed by three points more than half-way through the first half, but came back to take a three pointlead into the locker rooms, thanks to some big buckets by sophomore guard Jamaal Franklin. After a sluggish first half, the Aztecs blew the doors off the Cowboys in the second half. SDSU pushed the lead to 15 points, three separate times before claiming a 5242 victory. “I most definitely agree (this is one of the most impressive wins),” senior forward Tim Shelton said to KOGO 600 AM’s Ted Leitner after the game. “It kind of goes to the character of this team. We sat and we talked about it. We need to use this as motivation because it’s very easy to say things didn’t go our way and we’re tired, but we didn’t take that mentality and Coach (Steve Fisher) definitely made sure we didn’t.” The Aztecs improved to 18-2 this season, the second-best start in school history and moved its Mountain West Conference record to 4-0. A college basketball game is 40 minutes long. Last night, Wyoming scored 42 points. A little more than a point per minute wasn’t going to help the Cowboys defeat the Aztecs. It was another case of the SDSU defense stifling an opponent, just like it did against UNLV, New Mexico and Air Force prior to playing against Wyoming. “They are able to have a game plan implemented and execute it,” Fisher said. “I thought they were really, really, really good with our defensive thought process. We had very few
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JAMAAL FRANKLIN SCORED 12 POINTS AND RECORDED 11 REBOUNDS IN THE AZTECS’ WIN AGAINST WYOMING TUESDAY.
mix-ups with our defense.” The Aztecs held the Cowboys to 30.6 percent shooting from the field, which was their lowest shooting percentage of the season. The 42 points scored by Wyoming was a season low and the fewest amount of points scored against the SDSU in its 70 all-time meetings. Franklin recorded his fourth double-double in the last five games and his fifth in the last seven. He scored
12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. The thing that may have bothered some Aztecs fans, though, was his seven turnovers. It was the most turnovers Franklin has had this season, so even though he may be inconsistent at times, the positives usually outweigh the negatives with Franklin. That was the case last night, as his seven turnovers didn’t jeopardize the team’s chance at a victory.
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| PETER KLUCH, SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
News and notes It was Fisher’s 250th career victory at SDSU. The loss was only Wyoming’s second at home. The Aztecs have now won two straight in the ArenaAuditorium. It was SDSU’s fourth straight win overall against the Cowboys. Junior guard Chase Tapley scored in double figures for a career-high 14th consecutive game.
OPINION Check out Brody Burn’s take on the recently released ‘Teach or Preach’ list.
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WO M E N ’S B AS K E T B A L L
Clements, Aztecs win 11th in a row Ruben Meza contributor
SDSU 56 | WYO 45 The best way to describe the current San Diego State women’s basketball season can be summed up with last night’s game: It played shaky early, but found a rhythm moving forward and never looked back. SDSU (15-4, MW 5-0) extended its winning streak to 11 games after defeating Wyoming (6-12, MW 2-3) 56-45 in Viejas Arena. The Aztecs were led by junior guard Courtney Clements, who scored 21 points and grabbed six rebounds. “We knew they were going to be physical,” Clements said. “Coach
Burns and the rest of the staff prepared us really well.” SDSU found itself down 3-2 after a three pointer by the Cowgirls’ Ashley Sickles with 16:15 left in the first half. Clements answered back with a three pointer of her own to take the lead 5-3 on the following possession. The Aztecs controlled the game from that point forward. Junior guard Chelsea Hopkins sparked a 9-3 SDSU run with an acrobatic layup, giving the Aztecs a 30-21 lead heading into the half. Hopkins recorded nine assists, while snatching nine rebounds. Freshman guard Ahjalee Harvey proved to be capable of stepping in when needed, providing a solid performance off the bench with nine points. Wyoming’s Sickles led the Cowgirls with nine points in the first half, but went 0-5 shooting in the second half. SDSU head coach Beth
Burns can take credit for that, unleashing her full court defense when necessary. “Shooters need to shoot,” Burns said. “We felt that if we could exhaust them, making them work that hard just to get the ball up the floor, it would effect them with missed shots eventually.” The Aztecs’ lockdown defense wore out the Cowgirls, forcing them to shoot low percentage shots with the shot clock running out during numerous possessions. Wyoming shot just 31.9 percent from the field and wasn’t allowed any easy second chances either, getting out-rebounded by SDSU by a 42-29 margin. The Aztecs will be in action again at noon on Saturday at Viejas Arena when they take on Colorado State.
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W E AT H E R : PARTLY CLOUDY HIGH: 75 LOW: 46 SUNSET: 5:14 PM PETER KLUCH, SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER