SDSU Visits Texas Tech and Shoots for 4-0 Start

The San Diego State basketball team seeks its second victory in Texas in a week when the Aztecs play winless Texas Tech in Lubbock Municipal Coliseum at 5:30 tonight.

The Aztecs are hoping that this visit will be as successful as their adventure to Waco Tuesday. That trip resulted in an 83-58 victory over Baylor, the Aztecs’ biggest winning margin on the road in 20 seasons.

SDSU (3-0) is off to its best start since the 1984-85 team won its first 8 games and the 3-game winning streak is the longest since that same team won 5 near the end of the season.

Sandwiched between these games was a 102-88 victory against UC Irvine Friday in San Diego in which senior center Mitch McMullen scored a career-high 29 points and had 11 rebounds. The Aztecs shot 70.2% in that game and are shooting 60.1% for the season.

Texas Tech is coming off a 68-58 loss at New Mexico State Saturday. The Red Raiders’ other losses have been to UCLA and Purdue.

The Aztecs defeated the Red Raiders in their last meeting, 72-63, for the 1987 Holiday Bowl tournament championship. SDSU’s Tony Ross scored 24 points in that game, but he is not expected to start tonight. His off-guard spot has been taken by Michael Best, a junior transfer from Clemson.

Despite coming off the bench, Ross is second on the team in scoring at 12 points per game and is one of two Aztecs to score in double figures in all 3 games. McMullen, who leads the team in scoring (20.0 points per game) and rebounding (9.3), is the other.

Four starters return from a Texas Tech team that finished 9-19. It was only Gerald Meyers’ second losing season in 18 years at Texas Tech.