March 18, 2008

SAN DIEGO - San Diego State Game Notes | SDSU Broadcast Flip Card | Florida Game Notes

(7)San Diego State (20-12/9-7 MWC) at (2)Florida (21-11/8-8 SEC)

Television: ESPN2 - Brad Nessler (play-by-play), Jimmy Dykes (analysis)
Radio: AM 600 KOGO - Ted Leitner (play-by-play).

SDSU Advances to Postseason Play For the Third Straight Year; Faces Two-Time Defending NCAA Champ Florida, Wed. on ESPN2
Having secured a third consecutive berth in the postseason for the first time in the Division I era and the first time since the 1939, 1940 and 1941 seasons, San Diego State (20-12) travels across the country to face the two-time defending national champion Florida (21-11) in the first round of the 32-team 2008 MasterCard NIT.

Game time is set for 9 p.m. EDT (6 p.m. PDT) on Wednesday at the O'Connell Center. The game will be carried live on ESPN2 and can be heard on the Aztec flagship station, AM 600 KOGO.

The Aztecs advance to postseason play for just the ninth time in 38 seasons at the Division I level, but the fifth time in the last seven seasons under ninth-year head coach Steve Fisher. It is the fifth appearance in the NIT for SDSU, which owns a 2-4 all-time record in the event. Last year, the Aztecs traveled to Springfield, Mo., and upset Missouri State, 74-70, in the first round before falling at Syracuse, 80-64, in the second round in front of an NIT-record crowd of 26,752.

San Diego State overcame major off-season losses and devastating in-season injuries to post a third consecutive 20-win season, a fourth-place finish in the Mountain West Conference and a semifinal appearance in the conference tournament. The Aztecs overcame the loss of graduated senior Brandon Heath (all-time leading scorer in league and school history with 2,189 points) and classmate and former Gator, Mohamed Abukar (SDSU went 37-14 with him as a starter and he averaged 15.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg as an Aztec). In addition, SDSU has had starters miss 48 games this season due to injury or team suspension (Tim Shelton 28 games, Kyle Spain 12 and Richie Williams 8). The result has been an ever-changing lineup; SDSU has started 10 different lineups and a Division I era-record 11 players have started at least one game this season.

Nonetheless, the Aztecs have fielded a competitive team as demonstrated by their semifinal appearance in the MWC Championships last week in Las Vegas. SDSU knocked-off Air Force, 53-49, in the quarterfinal round of the event. Three Aztecs reached double figures for the Aztecs, led by junior center Ryan Amoroso's 15 points. Junior forward Lorrenzo Wade added 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists and junior guard Richie Williams tallied 12 points and five assists. The Aztecs shot just 35.9 percent from the field, but connected on 20-of-22 free throw attempts and posted positive rebound and turnover margins to find a way to win.

In the semifinal contest, the Aztecs fell to 24th-ranked Brigham Young, 63-54. The Aztecs trailed by just one at intermission and had the ball down five with less than seven minutes to play, but were unable to defeat the conference regular-season champions for a second time this season. Amoroso led the way with 18 points and MWC freshman of the year Billy White overcame a bout with the flu to come off the bench and score 12 points and pull down eight rebounds. Wade, a first-team all-conference selection had 10 points and five assists.

San Diego State and Florida are meeting for just the second time in school history. On Dec. 21, 1985, the Aztecs claimed a 63-62 victory over the Gators in the UNLV Rebel Roundup in Las Vegas. This is SDSU's first trip to the Eastern Time Zone since facing the Orange in the NIT last season and first game against a member of the SEC since facing South Carolina on Dec. 21, 1991.