By Jared QuientAssistant Sports Editor
How close was San Diego State to sweeping its three-game road tripand adding to the momentum that was beginning to strike fear into theMountain West Conference?
One free throw.
But alas, that one free throw eluded SDSU, as did the win streak.
“Had we made one more free throw, whether it be Al’s (Faux) lastone, or one of the first nine we missed in the first half, we wouldhave won that game,” head coach Steve Fisher said. “We had the gamein our pockets. Somebody pick-pocketed us.”
The game Fisher is referring to was the Aztecs’ demoralizing 83-76overtime loss to UNLV last Saturday night. Returning home a littledejected, SDSU now turns to its final home stand of the year.
The Aztecs face New Mexico tonight at 8:05 p.m. at Cox Arenabefore finishing their regular season against Air Force on Saturdaynight.
The game will be the last regular season contest for seniors RandyHolcomb, Al Faux, Myron Epps, Karlo Kovacic and Brandon Smith.
“There is a sense of urgency among us,” junior Tony Bland said.”We have more than a few seniors on our team and we want their lastfew games to be special. Players, especially good ones, tend to playbetter with their backs against the wall.”
Tonight SDSU faces a Lobos team that is coming off its biggest winof the year, a 74-65 home victory over conference-powerhouse Wyomingon Big Monday. That game, along with other MWC matchups over the pasttwo weeks, is testament to the level of parity this conference has.
With the MWC Tournament one week from today, it would surprise fewfamiliar with the conference if any of the top six teams in the MWCended up with the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament awarded to theconference tournament champion.
“We’ve got a really good league top to bottom,” Fisher said. “I’mhoping we get two teams into the tournament. But we don’t have any inthe top 25 and that could hurt us.”
For the Aztecs, a trip to the Big Dance, also known as the NCAATournament, is only possible with a conference tournament victory. ANational Invitation Tournament berth, though, is a task that’s alittle less dubious.
When asked what he thought the team would have to do to get a NITbid, Fisher said, “I think we have to have 18 wins on the docket oneway or another.”
With 16 wins already and two winnable home games on the horizon,the postseason is a legitimate goal for this team. But first SDSU hasto do something it has yet to do this season: win two conference homegames in a row.
“We have to execute, we have to make plays, and we have tofinish,” Fisher said. “We didn’t do that against UNLV. We have twogames left. We have to play our best basketball, and if we do, we’llwin.”
