Dec. 19, 2002

Tipping Off The University of Houston men's basketball team returns home to play San Diego State in a non-conference game at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 21. The Cougars will be looking to win their third game in the last four outings and improve their record to 3-4 when they play the Aztecs.

Houston is 2-4 overall this season after suffering a 68-59 loss at Southwest Texas State on December 9. Houston beat UTEP, 56-49, on December 4, and edged by Texas Arlington, 60-59, on December 7.

Meanwhile, San Diego State will be playing at Houston for the first time in school history. The Aztecs will be looking for their third straight win and to improve their overall record to 5-3.

During their last five games, San Diego State beat Cal-Poly and San Diego before suffering an 89-81 loss against Arizona on December 7 in San Diego. Following the loss to the Wildcats. San Diego State defeated Long Beach State, 64-55, on December 10 and Hawai' , 60-49, on December 14.

Houston versus San Diego State Houston and San Diego State met for the first time on January 29, 2002, when the Cougars suffered a 78-66 loss in San Diego. In that game, Houston played without starting point guard Dominic Smith. Louis Truscott led the Cougars with 19 points and also grabbed 10 rebounds.

San Diego native Jeremee McGuire made his first start as a Cougars and recorded 18 points, a game-high 11 rebounds and five blocked shots.

San Diego State was led by Tony Bland's 33 points, the most points scored by an Aztec under Steve Fisher. Senior forward Randy Holcomb scored all of his 14 points in the second half. He led the Aztecs with seven rebounds. Mike Mackell and Deandre Moore added 10 points each.