The typically raucous crowd at Viejas Arena went silent midway through the first half Monday night when a San Diego State player collapsed on the court.
Senior forward Dwayne Polee crumpled to the ground without being touched while chasing the UC Riverside player he was guarding on defense. Polee was conscious the entire 15 minutes that paramedics and medical personnel attended to him and pumped his fist to the crowd while being wheeled off the floor on a gurney to a standing ovation.
The cause of Polee's collapse is not immediately known. San Diego State coach Steve Fisher told reporters after his team's 62-33 victory that Polee was "alert and responsive" and will undergo a battery of tests at the hospital in hopes of determining what happened.
"We'll just pray that the tests can determine what the cause of it might be and move forward from there," Fisher said.
"You fear for the worst when you first see it. Now I think all of us feel significantly better in terms of the report we were given from [athletic trainer Tom Abdenour]."
The sight of Polee falling face first to the court was scary enough that teammate J.J. O'Brien immediately waived toward the bench for help. Within seconds, Fisher was on the floor beside Polee and his parents were making their way down from the stands.
Asked whether Polee had previously shown any symptoms that might explain his collapse, Fisher said only that the senior forward has been at every practice. Teammates said Polee encouraged the Aztecs to win the game for him on his way off the floor.
"That made us feel a little bit better," O'Brien said. "But basketball is secondary because of what happened."
Polee, a fifth-year senior who transferred from St. John's after his freshman year, became an impact player for San Diego State last season when he scored 13 or more points in the Mountain West semifinals and finals and all three of the Aztecs' NCAA tournament games. He recently lost his starting job to fellow senior Aqeel Quinn this season but remained an important player for San Diego State because of his athleticism and outside shooting.
Of course, the impact of Polee's potential absence on San Diego State's basketball season isn't the team's primary concern at this point. Everyone from Polee's former coach Steve Lavin to leaders of the student section at rival UNLV wished the senior forward well on social media.
San Diego State pulled away from UC Riverside in the second half to improve to 9-3 this season. Quinn and O'Brien led the Aztecs with 18 and 12 points, respectively.
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