A national television audience got a glimpse of San Diego State basketball first hand as the Aztecs faced Utah as part of a 24-hour Tip-Off Marathon of college hoops.
Maybe it was the unusual start time for a mid-week game (1:00 pm PST), because for most of the contest it looked as if neither team wanted to win. The 16th ranked Aztecs and 25th ranked Utes combined for 29 turnovers and missed a total of 67 shots. At halftime Utah led 18-17.
After a jittery first half Steve Fisher's squad settled down. Led by senior J.J. O'Brien double-double the Aztecs had a comfortable 10-point lead with just under a minute remaining.
Utah rallied to make things interesting in the closing seconds. They trailed by just three with 20-seconds left after a three-pointer by Jordan Loveridge. But the Aztecs hit six of their final seven free throws to ice the game. State improved to 2-0 after beating Utah 53-49.
Fisher was not surprised the game was so difficult, "If you're around long enough you know games have a feel about them. You have to grind out a win and continue to compete and that's the feel this game had."
A pair of Aztec freshmen got their first taste of big time college basketball. Guard Trey Kell had five points on 1-5 shooting in 24-minutes of action. Kevin Zabo contributed four points off the bench.
The Aztecs host CSU-Bakersfield on Thursday before heading to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational over the weekend.
