SAN DIEGO ÷ In the past, San Diego State basketball games used to be a good place to get some homework done, take a quick nap or catch up with an old friend over a cold one; but Saturday night, Cox Arena was out of control.

Fans came early, stayed late after the game, and showed that the students at SDSU care about more than just surfing and partying.

"This was the greatest crowd ever and it was fantastic," said Bill Walton, who announced the game that his two sons were a part of. "I'm so proud."

The elder Walton, a native of San Diego, has been going to SDSU games for years and couldn't stop talking about the excitement of the crowd.

The SDSU student section stood the entire game and continued to heckle the Arizona players and fans, though nearly 25 percent of the stadium was filled with Arizona faithful.

"They had a great atmosphere here," said UA senior forward Luke Walton, who made his homecoming to San Diego a successful one. "This would be a tough place to play in if they could keep it like that."

The Fisher Fanatics, as SDSU fans are called, were clad in all white, and spanned the entire section behind one of the baskets. The fans resembled an Oakland Raiders crowd at times, not one that usually acts like Arizona Cardinals fans.

"Our crowd was fantastic and it helped us," SDSU head coach Steve Fisher said.

Here are just a few highlights from the student section during the game.

· Security guards had to handcuff two Arizona fans wearing their Zona Zoo shirts, who somehow found seats right in the middle of the SDSU student section, because they feared the two would get hurt. The UA fans were told they couldn't leave until every single Aztec fan left the stadium. One of them got hit in the face anyway.

· Many of the Fisher Fanatics brought signs to the game, hoping to make it onto ESPN. However, some of the signs were too bad for even the cable network to show. One of the signs said "Levasseur hook me up," referring to UA football player Justin Levasseur, who was arrested last week. Another read "Arizona might be No.1 but we're in the Playboy Top 10."

· The chants coming out of the student section didn't let up for the entire game. Most were directed at Luke Walton. They yelled "Chris is better," "Daddy hates you" and "Walton sucks." They also chanted "overrated" a couple times, though one time when they did it the Aztecs were down by 18 points.

With the tough crowd and the fact that it was the team's first game on the road, maybe the most important thing for Wildcat basketball players to take away is that they survived. They could have succumbed to the noise and the unwelcoming atmosphere, but the players showed that they're ready to play at places like Oregon and UCLA in the next month.

If there was really one problem Saturday night, it might have been that the team became too relaxed at times and failed to put the Aztecs away.

Maybe that's a sign of a young team, which in reality the Wildcats still are, with freshmen and sophomores getting most of the minutes Saturday. Or maybe the UA just hasn't had to deal with a close game.

The team is not going to win every Pac-10 game by 35 points, the average margin of victory in their first three games, but if it can go into visiting arenas and take the crowd out of the game early, it could make a difference.

If not, they will be hearing the "overrated" chants all year long.

Arizona 4-0
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
24 Iguodala, Andre..... f  2-4    1-2    2-2    1  2  3   1   7  2  1  0  2  19
33 Anderson, Rick...... f  8-12   0-0    1-2    4  6 10   2  17  1  2  2  2  26
4  Walton, Luke........ f  2-6    2-3    1-2    0  3  3   3   7  4  3  0  0  24
45 Frye, Channing...... c  3-5    0-0    2-3    0  4  4   2   8  0  0  2  0  21
22 Gardner, Jason...... g  1-10   0-7    7-8    0  2  2   3   9  6  2  0  0  33
2  Fox, Isaiah.........    4-6    0-0    2-5    5  0  5   2  10  1  1  0  0  19
20 Stoudamire, Salim...    1-5    0-3    2-2    0  1  1   1   4  1  0  0  0  10
21 Adams, Hassan.......    4-8    0-1    0-0    1  3  4   0   8  1  0  0  1  14
3  Bynum, Will.........    5-10   4-8    5-6    4  3  7   2  19  1  5  0  3  23
34 Latimore, Dennis....    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  1  0  0  1  11
   TEAM................                            1  1
   Totals..............   30-67   7-24  22-30  15 25 40  17  89 18 14  4  9 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  0-0   0.0%   2nd Half: 30-67 44.8%   Game: 44.8%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  0-0   0.0%   2nd Half:  7-24 29.2%   Game: 29.2%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  0-0   0.0%   2nd Half: 22-30 73.3%   Game: 73.3%    5


San Diego State 2-3
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
34 Sanders, Aerick..... f  2-7    0-0    3-4    4  7 11   5   7  0  2  2  1  29
30 Mackell, Mike....... c  6-7    0-0    3-5    4  4  8   5  15  0  4  0  2  24
01 Moore, Deandre...... g  6-9    2-3    2-2    1  2  3   4  16  8  4  0  1  37
04 Bland, Tony......... g  7-21   2-6    0-0    2  2  4   1  16  1  1  0  2  34
11 Sir, Steve.......... g  2-7    2-7    0-0    0  1  1   1   6  0  1  0  1  18
00 Johnson, Tommy......    2-6    0-3    1-2    0  1  1   3   5  4  2  0  2  17
20 Davis, Trimaine.....    2-5    0-0    0-0    1  0  1   3   4  0  0  0  0  11
21 Burns, Evan.........    3-6    1-3    0-0    1  2  3   3   7  3  2  1  0  17
22 Manker, Chris.......    2-5    1-3    0-0    2  3  5   0   5  2  1  1  0  13
   TEAM................                         3  1  4             1
   Totals..............   32-73   8-25   9-13  18 23 41  25  81 18 18  4  9 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  0-0   0.0%   2nd Half: 32-73 43.8%   Game: 43.8%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  0-0   0.0%   2nd Half:  8-25 32.0%   Game: 32.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  0-0   0.0%   2nd Half:  9-13 69.2%   Game: 69.2%   2,2

Officials: Stanley Reynolds, Terry Christman, Bobby McRoy
Technical fouls: Arizona-None. San Diego State-None.
Attendance: 12414
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Arizona.......................   44   45  -   89
San Diego State...............   35   46  -   81