San Diego State was battling a lot more than just top seed Duke and star freshman Jahlil Okafor on Sunday.
Team spokesman Mike May said several players and coaches, including head coach Steve Fisher, are battling a stomach bug
The trouble began when senior guard Aqeel Quinn came down with what the team thought was a case of food poisoning after eating a turkey sandwich Thursday.
Head athletic trainer Tom Abdenour said he started hearing that others weren't feeling well by Saturday evening.
"Coach Fisher said he wasn't feeling well after practice, then ... there's a text from this one, text from that one," he said. "It was, 'Wait a second, what's going on here?'"
Abdenour said Fisher and assistant coach Brian Dutcher needed IVs on Sunday, while several players told him they weren't feeling well at breakfast.
Abdenour, who spent more than two decades as head athletic trainer with the NBA's Golden State Warriors, said the list included senior Dwayne Polee II, junior Angelo Chol, and freshmen Kevin Zabo and Malik Pope; as well as assistant David Velasquez, and director of basketball operations Matt Soria.
Abdenour said radio play-by-play announcer Ted Leitner was also battling the bug.
"That's not fun to deal with that, but that had no impact on how we competed, what we did, how we played," Fisher said. "That had no bearing on it."
San Diego State started 4-for-19 from the field and fell behind quickly against a Blue Devils team that came out sharp.
The Aztecs played better in the second half, getting as close as seven points before Duke ultimately put the game away in a 68-49 win. San Diego State shot just 19-for-58 for the game.
It's probably a stretch to say a few cases of stomach bug had any bearing on the outcome. Pope, Chol and Zabo are reserves and San Diego State's sixth, eighth and 10th leading scorers, respectively. Quinn and Polee, though, are starters. Quinn is second on the team with 10.8 points per game, while Polee is fourth with 7.9.
Quinn had six points and four turnovers in 24 minutes. Polee had just four points on 2-of-6 shooting in 20 minutes. Pope played 17 minutes and was 2-for-4 from the field for six points. Chol played seven minutes and was 2-for-3 for four points. Both were typical of their average output. Zabo didn't play.
The Blue Devils, meanwhile, were an efficient machine, shooting 54.5 percent percent for the floor. Okafor ended the game 12-for-16 for a game-high 26 points.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
