Aztec Notebook : Watson Hopes to Be Able to Practice on Wednesday

San Diego State guard Anthony Watson woke up with a sharp pain in his right leg on Sunday morning.

The Aztecs’ leading scorer with a 17.5 per game average said he hopes to be able to practice by Wednesday, when the team works out at the Special Events Center in Salt Lake City.

Unless his condition worsens, Watson said he should be able to play against the University of Nevada Las Vegas in the team’s opening round game of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night.

Watson said he pulled his groin muscle while attempting a layup in Friday night’s Western Athletic Conference semifinal game against New Mexico. Watson scored 20 against the Lobos, and did not appear to be hampered by the pulled muscle.

Against Texas El Paso on Saturday, Watson was knocked to the floor by Miner guard Kent Lockhart while attempting a layup on a fast break late in the first half.

Watson, who played all 40 minutes against UTEP, had scored 12 of his team-high 20 points up to that point.

“I felt like I stretched it (groin pull) when he pushed me,” Watson said. “After that, the pain started again.”

On that play, Aztec Coach Smokey Gaines felt that Lockhart should have been kicked out of the game for committing a flagrant foul.

“Actually,” Gaines said, “the guy should have been thrown out of the building.”

Watson and center Leonard Allen were named to the WAC All-Tournament team, along with guard Luster Goodwin and center Dave Fietl of UTEP and guard Manuel Hendrix of Utah.

Goodwin was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament, and that created quite a stir among Aztec supporters who felt that Allen was more deserving.

Allen had 25 points, 14 rebounds and 6 blocked shots against New Mexico on Friday.