“What the heck are we doing … I can’t watch this … Are we really going to lose to San Jose F#%$!#G State!”
Admittedly, this was my internal dialogue as the 1st half of Tuesday night’s Aztecs game began to reveal it’s not so enjoyable scheduled television programming.
Down 37-20 at the half against a very mid Mountain West program will have you screaming some God-awful things back at the screen. Especially when you know they are without two of their top talents in the game. It was as frustrating as a half could get.
The Aztecs came out flat as ever in the first half of a game they had to have. Somehow this talented team shot 0-13 in 3-pointers, committed over 10 turnovers and just showed little desire to play winning basketball.
And then the 2nd half happened.
Like a bat out of hell the San Diego State men’s basketball team ran out of the Provident Credit Union Event Center visitor’s locker room to complete one of the most furious comebacks I’ve ever witnessed. Scoring 17 unanswered points in just under a 5 minute span, the Aztecs went on to an eventual 69-66 victory.
What can we say folks—these are the San Diego State Cardiac-Aztecs.
When they came back from 21 points down last month to beat San Jose State in Viejas Arena it was one of the largest comebacks in program history and perhaps one of the most important games of this season. Tuesday night they may have topped that.
This game was bananas.
“People will say aren’t you worried about the metrics. I said this is the most beautiful win we’ve had.” said a joyful Coach Dutcher post game. “It’s on the road, 17 down. This team’s got grit.”
After coming up short against Colorado State last Saturday in Fort Collins in which they didn’t play their best and still almost won—the Aztecs could not afford a 2nd consecutive loss in Mountain West play. In order to keep their at large hopes alive a loss at this junction would’ve been a significant blow to their March Madness bracketology.
But these guys have been playing with fire for a while now.
On one hand they have shown a true grit that Coach Dutcher speak of—that they can dig themselves out of a pretty big ditch and quickly. But on the other hand they’ve also shown four consecutive wins that could’ve easily been catastrophic losses.
This is not the typical Brian Dutcher February team that ascends to their finest basketball of the season.
Or maybe they are.
But they probably aren’t.
“They pressure ball screens, they double ball screens. We kept fighting and turning it over letting the pressure bother us.”
The game took on a frenzy pace only after they absolutely had to play at that speed in order to comeback.
The main ingredient to it all were turnovers, which Dutcher admitted he challenged the team to protect the ball with no more turnovers in the second half. It worked. The Aztecs forced San Jose to instead lose the ball more often and at the end of the game it led to 25 points off of turnovers.
Nick Boyd was awesome scoring 14 points, 4 assists and 3 steals in the second half alone. His acrobatic play at the rim was absolutely electric. His 7 of 9 free throws shows a completely different approach from a team that consistently struggles to get to the line.
BJ Davis’ 13 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 of 5 free throws were also a big catalyst in the second half comeback. Magoon Gwath’s 7 points was a fine contribution, but his 4 blocks added to a program record for freshman that may never be broken.
Ultimately the action came to a slower grind around inside the 7 minute mark where defensive possessions took hold. But thank goodness the team continued to buckle down.
Miles Byrd came up big down the stretch as we’ve become accustomed to seeing. The Julius Erving Award watch list player continues to struggle on offense, starting just 1 of 6 from the field. Though Byrd has seen much better days shooting wise his defense is always there to buy him time until the end.
That is when his clutch 3 pointer hit extending the lead by four with just over a minute left to go. It’s a solid reminder to never doubt this team or their ability to make things happen—when their mind is right.
“I told them at halftime, if you don’t give in I’ll find something that’ll work offensively the second half, I promise you. Just don’t give in.”-Brian Dutcher
This group didn’t give in. The coaches didn’t allow them to give in. Can we explain it all—no way. And that’s the beauty of it. When nothing seems to be working Professor Dutcher reminds to always stay positive, keep trying something new, and hard work will get you where you need to be.
But for more of our sports minds that always want to be able to explain things rationally—I would point you to this one single stat line.
22-10.
That’s the stat to remember in this one. 22 free throw attempts for the Aztecs to just 10 for the Spartans. That was the difference. Just last weekend the free throw woes certainly cost SDSU the win on the road vs CSU. This game it was the big factor in winning.
The components leading to this? Not falling in love with the 3-point shot in the second half and repeatedly attacking the basket aggressively.
And yet it still took two clutch free throws by Wayne McKinney and a missed full court length shot to seal the deal.
These are your Cardia-Aztecs and Coach Dutcher thinks they play beautifully.
San Diego State next takes on Boise State this Saturday, February 15 at 7pm PST. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network and is a Blackout – fans are encouraged to wear black. T-shirts will be provided for the 1st 1,000 Students/Pregame COURTyard.
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