March 9, 2002

POSTGAME NOTES/ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
Fifth-seeded San Diego State at Third-seeded UNLV
MWC Championship Game
Saturday, March 9, 2002
Thomas & Mack Center/Las Vegas, Nev.

TEAM NOTES:

* SAN DIEGO STATE is 21-11 overall and has won eight of its last nine games. The Aztecs entered the contest with an RPI of 42, the second-highest RPI in the Mountain West Conference.

* Entering Saturday, of the 76 teams in Division I with at least 20 victories, San Diego State had played the16th most difficult schedule. Of the 15 teams to win at least 20 games and have a more difficult schedule, 14 came from one of the Big Six conferences.

* Two seasons after winning just five games and in Steve Fisher's third season at San Diego State, the Aztecs advance to their fourth NCAA Division I Tournament and makes its first appearance in postseason since 1986.

* The Aztecs are 3-0 in league championship games. In addition to this evenings victory, the Aztecs also claimed league titles in 1976 with the PCAA championship and the 1985 WAC title.

* San Diego State has won 21 games, the second most in a single-season since obtaining Division I status prior to the 1969-70 season. This is the first time the Aztecs have passed the plateau since the 1984-85 team won 23 games. That was also the last time SDSU advanced to postseason play as the Aztecs advanced to their third and, prior to this season, their most recent NCAA Tournament.

* The Aztecs' high-scoring trio of Randy Holcomb, Al Faux and Tony Bland combined to score 45 points against UNLV. SDSU is 10-1 this season in regulation games when that group scores at least 50 points. The lone loss came when they combined for 58 points in the loss to top-ranked Duke.

PLAYER NOTES:

* Senior forward Randy Holcomb was named tournament MVP after scoring the 20th double-double of his career and 14th of the season. With Saturday's 20 point effort the Fresno State/L.A. City College transfer has 1,137 career points and is just seven points shy of 1,000 as an Aztec. Holcomb averaged 16.3 points in the three tounament games.

* Deandre Moore's 11 points are the most he has scored in a contest since his 10 point effort against New Mexico in Cox Arena on Feb. 28. The junior guard went 4-4 from the charity stripe against the Rebels after not shooting a free throw against Wyoming in the MWC semifinal game and going 2-4 from the line versus BYU in the quarterfinals. That is the second time this season he has gone 4-4 from the line with the previous time being against Brigham Young on Feb. 11.

* Junior center Mike Mackell had his 10th 16 point or better performance of the season versus the Rebels. He has scored in double figures two of the last three contests.

* Senior guard Al Faux has now scored in double figures in 12 straight games. He is tied for the lead in postseason points with Randy Holcomb with 33. Faux was named to the all-tournament team.

ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM

Randy Holcomb, SDSU
Al Faux, SDSU
Dalron Johnson, UNLV
Lou Kelly, UNLV
Marcus Bailey, Wyoming

Tournament MVP: Randy Holcomb, SDSU