GAME NOTES: Flying under the radar to a degree, the San Diego State Aztecs shoot for a third straight win on Saturday as they entertain the UNLV Runnin' Rebels in Mountain West Conference action at Viejas Arena.

The Aztecs opened the season ranked 16th in the nation and rose three spots after a strong first three weeks. However, the team then lost to Washington and Cincinnati and, more recently Fresno State, so now the program is just receiving votes for the national rankings while teams like Wyoming, FSU and New Mexico sit atop the MWC standings.

Alone in fourth place in the league with three wins in four tries, SDSU has won two straight and six of the last seven, thanks to an upset of 25th-ranked Wyoming earlier this week, 60-52, on the road in Laramie no less.

As for the Runnin' Rebels, they are an impressive 8-1 at home in the Thomas & Mack Center, but have yet to win a single true road game after four tries. Four nights ago the program lost in overtime against Boise State at Taco Bell Arena, 82-73, marking the squad's fourth defeat in five outings. At 1-3 in conference play, UNLV is tied with the Broncos near the bottom of the standings.

UNLV leads the all-time series by a 35-24 margin, although the games played in San Diego have been split right down the middle, 12-12. The Aztecs have turned the tide in recent years, winning nine of the last 12 battles, including all three from last season. The most recent victory for SDSU came in the semifinals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament in Las Vegas.

San Diego State has won 16 straight MWC home games dating back almost two years, with UNLV being the last team to take down the Aztecs in their own building.

Rashad Vaughn had a chance to play the hero against BSU, but his long-distance jumper at the end of regulation missed the mark, forcing the Rebels to overtime where they came up lame. Vaughn finished the meeting with 20 points and eight rebounds, followed by Patrick McCaw with 17 points on 4-of-7 shooting behind the 3-point line. Cody Doolin and Christian Wood both pitched in with 12 points, the latter adding 10 rebounds and three blocked shots, but Wood was largely kept quiet in the first half of the meeting.

On a team averaging 68.6 ppg, Vaughn leads the way with 17.5 ppg, having made a team-best 32 shots behind the 3-point line. Wood is averaging a double- double with 14.8 points and an even 10.0 rebounds per contest, accounting for a team-high 50 blocked shots as well. Joining Wood in the paint as a defensive stopper is Goodluck Okonoboh who, as a 16-game starter, has sacrificed his own offense (4.7 ppg) in order to focus on his defense (5.4 rpg, 47 blocks) for a team that ranks second in the country with 126 rejections entering the weekend.

The Aztecs turned the tables on Wyoming by beating the Cowboys at Arena- Auditorium earlier this week, snapping a 13-game home win streak by the Pokes in the process. San Diego State shot only 5-of-17 behind the 3-point line and 36.4 percent from the floor overall, yet still managed to get into the win column as Aqeel Quinn tallied a team-best 14 points on just 4-of-15 shooting from the floor. Trey Kell attempted only two shots from the field, but finished with 12 points off the bench by hitting 9-of-10 at the free-throw line, followed by Winston Shepard with 10 points and six rebounds.

With the focus on playing defense at SDSU, there isn't a lot of offense to go around as the team produces just 61.9 ppg. Shepard checks in with 11.3 ppg and Quinn another 10.0 ppg, but that doesn't mean players like JJ O'Brien (8.1 ppg) or Kell (7.1 ppg) can't step up their efforts from time to time. The loss of Dwayne Polee II (8.4 ppg) to an illness for nearly a month now has forced the Aztecs to change things up a bit, but this is still a program that is holding opponents to just 53.4 ppg on 36.8 percent accuracy from the floor and 27.3 percent effort beyond the arc.

If Wood and Okonoboh can provide a strong interior presence for the Runnin' Rebels at the defensive end and keep scoring to a minimum, the visitors might have a chance to keep this one close. However, the inexperience of UNLV will also serve to hurt the squad in all likelihood.