MEN'S BASKETBALL: Aztecs enjoy the week off

If the San Diego State men's basketball team ran into its schedule makers recently, there probably wouldn't have been too many niceties thrown around. SDSU is coming off three exhausting games - two against the best teams in the Mountain West Conference - decided by a total of seven points. But all of that seems like ages ago. After having a bye on Saturday, the Aztecs couldn't be happier with their schedule. "The best thing about having this week off was sitting at home and watching the other teams sweat and play, seeing who won and lost," junior forward Lorrenzo Wade said. The extra break could be especially important with Air Force visiting at 8 p.m. today at Cox Arena. The Falcons are coming out of a rough offseason in which they lost 74 percent of their scoring and 68 percent of their rebounding because of graduation. But Air Force -the only team to beat UNLV in conference play - has performed well behind the play of guard Tim Anderson, who is fifth in the MWC with 15.6 points per game. "Anderson is a terrific player and now he is getting the opportunity to shine offensively," head coach Steve Fisher said. The Falcons (12-8, 4-3 in MWC play) do not rely on their perimeter shooting as much as they have in the past, but SDSU should still be concerned beyond the arc. The Aztecs (15-6, 5-2) have allowed their last two opponents to shoot 52 percent from three-point range. "For the most part we have contested the vast majority of threes that have been attempted," Fisher said. "Still the last two games we have had people shoot the lights out from three-point range against us." Three-point defense has been the glaring weakness for SDSU recently, but the bye week should help shore things up. "We've had the opportunity to put in a couple of new things, especially on the defensive end," Wade said. "We can run up and down the court. We just really need to be focused on the defensive end." As junior guard Richie Williams continues to heal from his left wrist injury, his role defending on the outside increases. Williams, who started 64 games the previous two seasons, has been replaced by freshman guard D.J. Gay in the starting lineup for all but four games. "Richie was a two-year starter for us coming in (to the season), and the initial plan was to have him be the starting point guard," Fisher said. "Certain circumstances have caused him to miss a number of games, but Richie is our starting point guard."

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