Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SAN DIEGO, CALIF. -- Last time the No. 13 BYU men's basketball team (19-1, 4-0 MWC) traveled to Cox Arena to play San Diego State (14-5, 3-2 MWC), Jimmer Fredette caught the Aztecs by surprise, scoring what was then a career-high 28 points, and leading the Cougars to a comeback victory.
Then senior Aztec star Lorenzo Wade was particularly surprised at Fredette's performance.
"There's no excuse to let Jimmer Fredette come in here and score 28 points," Wade said after the game. "That's impossible."
Fredette said after practice Thursday that he remembers what was said, but that doesn't change his approach to this game.
With a possible top-10 ranking, conference supremacy and a NCAA tournament seed on the line, the Cougars probably don't need any extra motivation for what should prove to be their toughest road test to date.
"They're a very, very talented team and they've beaten some good teams," Fredette said. "They're going to come out and play hard we were fortunate enough to beat them there last year, and I'm sure their coach is reminding them of that. It's a tough place to play."
The last time these two teams met, the Aztecs knocked the Cougars out of the MWC tournament. SDSU's size has seemed to cause the Cougars matchup problems in the last few years. Despite the many new faces on this year's Aztec team, the Cougars said the size of the Aztecs is something they will have to game plan for.
"They've got a great front line," BYU Head Coach Dave Rose said. "They really rebound the ball well and they play within themselves they're really tough inside."
The Aztecs have a very balanced attack, with all three starting frontcourt players, junior Malcolm Thomas, true freshman Kawhi Leonard and junior Billy White averaging 11 points per game. The other two starters, junior point guard D.J. Gay and freshman guard Chase Tapley, average 9.8 points and 7.1 points, respectively.
Leonard, who was selected as the MWC preseason freshman of the year, leads the conference in rebounding with 9.4 per game. He is second amongst MWC freshman in scoring (11.4 ppg) behind BYU's super freshman Tyler Haws (12.2 ppg).
Tipoff is at 8 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on KSL Newsradio 102.7FM/1160AM and online at KSL.com beginning with the pregame show at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on the Mtn.
