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Monday, Jan. 10 12:00pm ET
Althoff paces Utes with 20 points | |||||
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BOX SCORE
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Spending three days in San Diego wasn't exactly a vacation for the Utah Utes. Utah flew to San Diego after its 20-point loss at Louisville on Thursday night, then had to listen to coach Rick Majerus ride them all weekend. "The last three days have been hard on all of us," junior center Nate Althoff said after scoring a career-high 20 points in Utah's 70-55 win over San Diego State on Monday night, the Mountain West Conference opener for both teams. "Coach has been hard on us and it worked tonight. It (the loss) really taught us a lesson," Althoff said. It also dropped the Utes out of The Associated Press Top 25, although they are No. 24 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll. But Utah quickly rebounded, using a 26-5 run on their way to beating San Diego State for the ninth straight time. The Utes (12-3) had no trouble with the Aztecs (5-9) even though leading scorer Hanno Mottola sat out more than 14 minutes of the second half with foul trouble. He finished with just four points, 20 under his average. Alex Jensen scored 18. San Diego State lost its third straight game as well as its third straight conference opener. This was the first meeting between the teams since Utah coach Rick Majerus turned down an offer last March to coach San Diego State. The Aztecs then hired Steve Fisher, who took Michigan to three Final Fours, winning the national championship in 1989 as interim coach. Majerus is 17-1 against San Diego State since taking over at Utah before the 1989-90 season. The last time these teams met, Utah beat the Aztecs by 48 points, their worst loss ever. Utah's biggest lead in Monday's game was 25 points after its 26-5 run that spanned halftime. Althoff had two three-point plays and a field goal as Utah went from 18-14 ahead to 37-19 at halftime, including scoring the last five points of the half. "The last seven minutes of the first half killed us," Fisher said. "It took away all opportunity to win with that huge run." The Utes then scored the first seven points of the second half, taking a 44-19 lead after a 3-point shot and a layup by Jensen and two free throws by Althoff. Althoff's previous career-high was 14 in a win against Arkansas State on Nov. 16. The closest the Aztecs got the rest of the way was 54-43 with 8:22 left following back-to-back shots by Danny Abramowitz, including a 3-pointer. Myron Epps scored 16 for San Diego State and Marcelo Correa had 13. | ALSO SEE Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
AUDIO/VIDEO   Nate Althoff slams one home for two of his 20 points.avi: 870 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Alex Jensen gets inside the paint for the layup.avi: 1114 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | |||||