Ruben's Diary

Our recent victory over Georgia State University provided us with the momentum that we need going into Saturday's game against San Diego State University.

Georgia State is a very athletic team and has a hall-of-fame coach in Lefty Driessell. We matched up well with them - we had size that matched their size and guards that matched their guards. They gave us a run for our money in the first half - they hit the majority of their three-point attempts - and it was like they were in a zone.

The game was very intense and they outplayed us in the first half, but we outplayed them in the second half. We came out with more intensity on the defensive end, which led to some high-flying dunks and some wide-open threes, which opened up the game. Before the game, we knew we were in for a fight and we held our own and came out victorious.

The last three weeks we've been in a slump, but this game helped our team realize that we can play better than we had been playing. We were getting tired of hearing that we should have beat some teams that we lost to, and we decided to make a change. We came together as a team and we talked about things that we should do better. During the last few weeks we were both mentally and physically drained - no one has fun losing.

We had a tough road win against our next opponent, San Diego State, for our first Mountain West Conference victory.

The Aztecs present some matchup problems but it's nothing we can't handle. They're a better team than what their records shows and are a better team than in previous years. Coach Steve Fisher, a former Michigan University coach, has the program on the rise and this game will be tough.

Being at home should give us a boost, though. San Diego State is very athletic and has a sundry of plays in its play book. They are physical, and they can shoot the ball well from all over the court.

This team probably thinks it has an edge because they know that we've been struggling as of late, and probably also feel that they should have beaten us at our first meeting. But it's up to us to be ready, come out and play. If we play like we played on Monday night, we are capable of winning the rest of our conference games. Our destiny is in our hands.

Right now our team is hungry for victories - we have the potential to win the rest of our home games, we just need to come out and play hard and have fun like we did Monday night.

A lot of people feel that our victory on Monday was due to a lot our shots falling and a lack of size in the middle for the other team. But my opinion is that everybody was having fun. The game is simple when you're having fun, and Monday night all the guys were smiling, even the coaches. That is where we need to be as a team to win the rest of our games.