11) appear to be the team's toughest remaining road trips. It would be an astounding achievement after losing four starters - two of whom are on NBA rosters - off of a team that won an NCAA tournament game for the first time in program history and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen.Īfter escaping Laramie, games at Colorado State (Saturday) and 12th-ranked UNLV (Feb. In the bigger picture, the Aztecs increased their odds of taking a Mountain West Conference regular season crown, keeping UNLV and Colorado State a game behind them in the loss column. Veteran guards Chase Tapley and Jamaal Franklin, who have emerged from role players on last year's 34-win squad to unquestioned leaders a year later, led the way with 12 points apiece. SDSU was a bit more selective and efficient on the offensive end, hitting 51.2 percent of its shots. Wyoming, who has gotten to 16-4 this season mostly behind its stellar defense under first-year coach Larry Shyatt, struggled to score as SDSU beat the Cowboys at their own game.Įven though the Aztecs turned the ball over 19 times, they forced 16 on the other side while holding Wyoming to 30.6 percent shooting.
The game itself, which figured to be a potential trap spot for San Diego State even without the travel hiccups, turned out to be fairly ho-hum. "It's part of what makes it such a challenging conference, and a lot of people don't understand that." "It comes with the conference," Shelton said of the league's current sprawling setup, which makes for some tricky travel in the winter months.
Tuesday morning included the final refueling stop in Grand Junction - where it was also snowing - before traversing the final 200 miles through the air to Laramie - where it was, you guessed it, snowing.Īnd after the Aztecs got done running their Mountain West record to 4-0 and tightening their solo grip on first place in the league standings, they each grabbed a pizza outside of the locker room and got back on board the tiny plane. In a Cedar City hotel was where the team ended up killing the time by going through Wyoming game film. The problem there? The snow kept them grounded for the night. George, Utah, as originally planned, the refueling was done in Cedar City, Utah. Approaching a vicious snowstorm, instead of stopping in St. #Vintage flying half wing on helm pin full
The problem with the 19-seater was that on a full fuel tank, it could not make the 868-mile trek to Laramie without having to stop to refuel. In theory, it was a good idea, since they fly back into the region for Saturday's game at Colorado State. The charter option was decided upon so that the Aztecs could leave Laramie after the game instead of having to wait until Wednesday morning. The trip from San Diego to Laramie when flying commercial involves a long flight to Denver, followed by a 2.5-hour bus ride. The 19-seater was all the team could find after opting not to fly commercial to a road conference game for only the second time in coach Steve Fisher's 13 years at the helm. This was what the team's best option was after the 30-seat plane the team was originally supposed to take - owned and operated by a different aviation company - was taken out of service due to an issue with the wing. 10 players, four coaches and five staffers boarded a 19-seat Beechcraft 1900D twin-engine turboprop plane, which was far from spacious. So, how did this all come about? The travel woes were well-documented over the last two days by the San Diego Union-Tribune's Mark Zeigler as they unfolded. It was something we talked about while spending the night in Utah." "If we weren't a team with such strong character, it would have. "I didn't feel like it did," senior forward Tim Shelton said when asked if the extended trip affected his team.
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