Menzies has long history with Aztecs
They were there at the beginning, Marvin Menzies and Brian Dutcher, coaching under Steve Fisher in 1999 as he took over San Diego State.
At the time, the Aztecs were no one’s idea of a basketball power, and they had no rivalry with UNLV.
But Menzies and Dutcher helped build San Diego State into a Mountain West power and turned its rivalry with the Rebels into the fiercest in the conference. They were on the Aztecs’ bench when San Diego State went to the Thomas & Mack Center and beat UNLV 78-75 in the 2002 Mountain West tournament cham
UNLV
pionship game.
Those coaches will be back at the Mack at 7 p.m. Saturday when the teams meet again, this time with Menzies as the coach at UNLV and Dutcher in charge at San Diego
State. CBS Sports Network will televise the game.
“I remember the environment here was just ridiculous,” Menzies said of the 2002 game. “It was so exciting. To silence the crowd here was an amazing achievement for
San Diego State to be able to do that coming off where we were. So here I am now, the shoe’s on the other foot, and I’m trying to get the Rebels to have that type of excitement.”
The Aztecs (12-7, 4-4 MW) have beaten the Rebels (14-6, 3-4) the past 11 games and 17 of 20. They are 1-point favorites over UNLV.
San Diego State would seem to have the mental edge, but Dutcher pointed out that the Rebels jumped all over the Aztecs in last season’s Mountain West tournament. UNLV took a 37-16 lead less than two minutes into the second half before losing 62-52 in overtime.
“We were very fortunate to come away with a win there, so we don’t take anything for granted,” Dutcher said. “We don’t take our past success against them for granted. Both teams are going to play extremely
hard. Both teams are, hopefully, pretty well-coached, and the players know what this is all about.”
Dutcher is in his first season as coach, taking over for Fisher, whose name is on the Viejas Arena court. He was an assistant under Fisher his entire time at San Diego State and for 10 seasons at Michigan before that, so the transition wasn’t as tough as it could have been.
“I’m 58 years old, so I think all the years I’ve had in this system has prepared me for it,” Dutcher said. “But it’s a lot more time responsibilities. It seems like I’m always catching up on things. Responsibilities for other things are a little greater than they used to be.”
Menzies is in his second season as UNLV coach, but he ran New Mexico State for nine years before assuming control of the Rebels. Unlike what Dutcher inherited, Menzies took over a UNLV program in shambles.
Dutcher pointed to the Rebels’ 6963 loss at Fresno State on Tuesday as evidence that progress is being made.
“It’s a team that’s just been put together,” Dutcher said. “You look at Fresno, and even though they lost, it was one of their better performances. So they’re getting better, and that’s what you want as a coach.”
Improvement is one thing. Winning is another.
A victory over San Diego State could be just the spark the Rebels need as February nears.
It also would put a little fire back into the rivalry.
“Real rivalries go back and forth,” Menzies said, “and right now they have the upper hand for sure.”
Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.