Malik Pope may miss his fifth straight Mountain West game and 10th overall this season when San Diego State hosts Utah State on Saturday night at Viejas Arena. Or he might not.
This is news.
“Malik did a little bit of activity (Thursday),” coach Steve Fisher said before practice Friday. “What that means for sure, I don’t know. Whether he’ll suit up and have an opportunity to play, I don’t know.”
But there was an optimism in his voice that didn’t exist in recent weeks, a hope. Pope has been listed as doubtful for the entire Mountain West season; for Saturday, he’s been upgraded to questionable.
The Aztecs (9-7, 1-3) finally got their first conference victory on Tuesday against San Jose State and company in the Mountain West cellar after, gulp, residing there alone. That stopped the bleeding. The next step toward suturing the wounds of a deeply disappointing season is reuniting Pope, a 6-foot-10 forward with a unique set of skills that had him on NBA radars last spring, and a talented roster that at times struggled without him.
Pope first injured the popliteus, a small muscle in the back of the knee, late in preseason practice. It appeared to heal, only for him to aggravate it in warmups before the final exhibition. He missed the first three regular-season games, returned for seven, then subbed himself out late in the opening game at the Diamond Head Classic on Dec. 22 and hasn’t played since.
The Aztecs would win the next two by double figures – and the tournament title – without him, then opened 0-3 in a league they were prohibitive favorites to win for a fourth straight year.
Amid the whisper debate whether the Aztecs can win without Pope is this chilling statistic: They’re 18-1 over the last two seasons when he scores eight or more points, and 19-16 when he doesn’t (or doesn’t play). The lone loss was 68-63 against Fresno State in the Mountain West tournament final last year, when his 19 points and 11 rebounds couldn’t overcome debilitating injury and illness to the starting backcourt.
Pope spent the first two weeks after the most recent flare-up on the sideline at practice, pedaling an exercycle or performing exercises with resistance bands. Running was limited to an anti-gravity treadmill that reduces pounding on his knee.
But the workouts intensified last week, and Pope finally became a partial participant in practice this week. On Friday, he wore a soft brace on the knee.
More scoring will help. It might be another area, though, where the Aztecs missed him most.
“The first thing he can help us with, for sure, is our rebounding and our presence at the rim,” fellow junior Trey Kell said. “That’s the area we’re lacking the most right now, defensive rebounding.”
Pope is averaging 4.7 rebounds, second on the team behind Zylan Cheatham’s 6.7. But in the nine games he’s missed, the Aztecs have been outrebounded by a combined 17. In the seven he’s played, plus-29.
In the three losses to open the conference season, the Aztecs surrendered 11, 14 and 15 offensive boards – preposterous numbers for a team that prides itself on rebounding. Nevada had 23 second-chance points from the offensive glass. Boise State had 17 in the first half alone.
“He definitely brings us a different dynamic,” Cheatham said. “He makes up for certain mistakes that some guys make. He gives me a better opportunity to go offensive rebound, because I know we are interchangeable. I can pick up his man and he can pick up mine.”
There’s also the benefit of another body. Fisher has talked about having to go longer than he wants with certain players, and indeed the Aztecs have struggled late in the first half and midway through the second – when fatigue is most prevalent.
“Obviously we want him out there on the floor,” Kell said. “For about two or three weeks now, we haven’t had him. We’ve just focused on the lineups that we have that don’t involve Malik. When he comes back, we’ll happily accept him back.”
Aztecs vs. Utah State
Saturday: 7 p.m. at Viejas Arena
On the air: ESPN3 (Internet streaming); 1090-AM
Records: SDSU 97, 1-3; Utah State 8-8, 2-3
Series history: SDSU leads 7-3 and has won all seven since the Aggies joined the Mountain West in 2013-14. It has won the three games at Viejas Arena by 15, 20 and 15 points.
Aztecs update: This is the first of three games on dreaded ESPN3, which means this might be a good time to make sure you can log onto WatchESPN.com or through devices such as Apple TV. Jeremy Hemsley missed practice Friday with food poisoning but is expected to play. Malik Pope (knee) is listed as questionable. Several other players (Matt Shrigley, D’Erryl Williams, Valentine Izundu, Montaque Gill-Caesar) have bumps and bruises but should go as well. Max Hoetzel has scored in double figures in all four MW games, averaging 13.3 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 53.3 percent (16 of 30) behind the arc. Said coach Steve Fisher: “I’m like most people. When he shoots it, I think it’s going in.” A limited number of $20 general admission tickets are available for seating in the student section, since the spring semester has not started.
Aggies update: They’ll have a size advantage, with a projected starting lineup of 6-4, 6-4, 6-8, 6-9 and 6-11. The best player is 6-9 senior Jalen Moore, a versatile wing who was a preseason all-conference selection and is averaging 17.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists. G Koby McEwen, the preseason co-freshman of the year (with SDSU redshirt Jalen McDaniels) is averaging 15.1, 4.9 and 3.2 while shooting a league-best 59.3 percent on 3s in MW games. Senior G Shane Rector (10.4 ppg) is dangerous off the bench. In the last meeting with SDSU, he had six steals. Utah State ranks second in the MW in shooting percentage (.471) and third in 3-point accuracy (.370). “They can score the ball as well as anybody in our league,” Fisher said. “We need to be prepared to guard hard, guard smart.” The conference wins are against New Mexico and UNLV; the losses are home against Boise State, at Air Force and at Wyoming.
mark.zeigler@sduniontribune.com; Twitter: @sdutzeigler
