It was the annual N7 game to commemorate Native American Heritage Month, which means San Diego State’s basketball team wears special turquoise uniforms and which also means it wins.
The Aztecs are now 11-0 in turquoise.
The opponent – Division III Occidental College of Los Angeles – might have had something to do with 100-49 final score, but something more than uniform color and an overwhelmed, lower-division foe was at work here. The Aztecs were pretty darn good in their own right.
They might not have led 18-0, 37-7 and 48-11 against a proper Division I team. They probably would have won, and won easily, Tuesday night at Viejas Arena against all but the top, top programs.
“I told them, if we got to 100, I was going to check into the game,” coach Brian Dutcher joked. “I haven’t played since high school. But I didn’t have enough time. We didn’t get there until like 25 seconds left.
“It’s fun to watch the ball go in the basket. I don’t care who the opponent is. At some level, you still have to make the shot. We made a lot of shots, and I think that builds confidence. … In that regard, it’s a real positive moving forward that guys who might have been struggling with their shot got good confidence as we head into this big stretch.”
Ah, the big stretch.
Monday vs. No. 4 Gonzaga.
Nov. 26 vs. No. 14 Creighton.
Nov. 27 vs. Oregon.
Nov. 30 vs. another power conference team in the final game of the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas.
For that reason, Dutcher said “I think we need to make a jump offensively” after a largely lackluster 63-point effort in the opening win against UC San Diego last week.
He got it.
The Aztecs managed just 24 points in the first half against the Tritons. Against the Tigers, they had that by the first media timeout (7½ minutes in) and led 25-2.
They were 8 of 22 behind the 3-point arc in the opener … and made 10 of their first 12 against Oxy.
Redshirt freshman Magoon Gwath had one point in the opener … and eight (and two 3s) in the first 3:15 on Tuesday.
The 3s continued to rain. Wayne McKinney III, starting for the injured Miles Byrd, drained three in the first six minutes and finished 4 of 7. Kimo Ferrari, who made 10 in a game for Brown last season, came off the bench and quickly hit three more in the span of 78 seconds. Freshman Taj DeGourville was 4 of 7. BJ Davis was 2 of 4.
The program and arena single-game record? Nineteen … in a 95-57 win against Occidental here two years ago.
After getting to 10 treys in the first 10 minutes, they didn’t make one for the next 13 minutes. Then came another barrage. At the midpoint of the second half, they had reached 17 and the record was in serious jeopardy.
But they were still stuck on 17 when the walk-ons checked in with 6:13 to go, and only Ryan Schwarz could make one after that. They finished 18 of 40.
The Division I record for most points in a game? That’s 138, against U.S. International in 1986.
The Aztecs were on pace for that early, with 40 points in the opening 10 minutes, but a sluggish close to the first half (14 points in the last 10 minutes) kept that record safe. Even so, it was the first time in six years they hit the century mark in regulation.
It wasn’t that the Aztecs were trying to lay it on the poor Tigers. It’s that Dutcher preaches “we’re not playing an opponent, we’re playing to a standard.”
They did that Tuesday, and did it without arguably their two best scorers. Reese Waters is still in a protective boot and scooter while the stress fracture in his foot heals (his next bone scan isn’t until the end of the month). And Byrd, who had a career-high 20 points against UCSD, was in a protective boot and crutches after spraining his right ankle in practice Monday.
Byrd looked more mobile and in better spirts than he did a day earlier. The hope, Dutcher said, is he’s able to go Monday when the Zags come to Viejas Arena.
“It didn’t matter who started the game,” McKinney said. “It was going through those 40 minutes, playing strong, playing hard, staying together, getting a good rhythm, trying to get chemistry. Guys are sometimes going to go down, but as long as we stay together in the fight, we’re going to do what we do.”
The Aztecs finished with five players in double figures: Gwath, McKinney and Davis with 16 each, DeGourville with 14 and Nick Boyd with 10.
Gwath also had four blocks, including one on the opening possession for the third straight game (counting the preseason exhibition against Division II Cal State San Marcos). DeGourville also had six rebounds, five assists and two steals (and no turnovers) in 21 minutes. Davis had five steals, and the Aztecs were plus-44 points in his 23 minutes on the floor. Miles Heide had six offensive rebounds.
Nasir Luna, a 6-foot-4 freshman, led the Tigers with 16 points, and junior Ethan Hanning had 12.
The Aztecs had a 35-4 edge on points off turnovers after forcing 21. They held Occidental to 29.3% shooting. They blocked eight shots. They had 22 assists on 37 baskets.
They were 17 of 33 behind the arc before the walk-ons subbed in.
“I wish we could have saved some of those 3s, put them in the bank and brought them back out against Gonzaga,” Dutcher said. “But how can you not be happy with the way we were shooting the ball? I mean, everybody was shooting it – Kimo and Wayne and Taj and Nick and Magoon.
“It wasn’t just one guy. We had multiple guys making 3s. That’s the great equalizer in basketball. If you start making 3s, you can beat anybody. I’m sure that will get people’s attention the way we shot the ball today and maybe get them a little closer to us where we can drive around them.”
Notable
Since 1999-2000, only two Aztecs players have had at least 15 points, four blocks and two 3s in a game: Byrd in the opener last week and Gwath on Tuesday night (16 points, four blocks, two 3s). … The 51-point margin was the largest in 11 years, since an 83-point win against Saint Katherine in 2013. … The Aztecs hit triple figures last season in a 100-97 win against Washington in Las Vegas, but it came in overtime. … It was the 43rd 100-point game in program history. … SDSU is 22-1 in its last 23 home games. … The one thing the Tigers did better than the Aztecs was shoot free throws, making 9 of 13 compared with 8 of 13.
