The dark cloud continues to hang over SDSU when they play against Grand Canyon U. The Aztecs failed to earn their first victory on the road over the jump start basketball school in Arizona’s desert community. They may never get another chance to right that wrong either.
SDSU fell 70-69 in front of a rabid Havocs home crowd as GCU hit a wild 6 of 12 from behind the arc in the first half. For a team that averages 30% from three, the home arena energy definitely fueled the uncharacteristic shots. The game continued and the shots just kept on falling.
SDSU weathered the storm of the first half to settle into the game. Behind freshman point guard Elzie Harrington’s 8 of SDSU first 10 points the Aztecs were able to even up the score early on. Harrington’s mid range game has been able to find success at his spots when the SDSU offense typically takes a few minutes to get going in games.
The Aztecs defense had prevailed early causing 11 first half turnovers. But for all the aggressive play on defense it also led to some early foul trouble—most notably BJ Davis, Pharaoh Compton and Miles Heide each collecting 2 fouls a piece. For BJ Davis the teams leading scorer he had to sit most of the half.
While GCU was hot from behind the line the Aztecs failed to knock down any 3-pointers of their own until the final shot at the end of the half when Taj DeGourville knocked one down and put the Aztecs up by two going into the break. It gave the team some much needed momentum but also for-shadowed how this game would come down to a similar ending.
To start the 2nd half immediately the Aztecs defense came out swarming and turned GCU over on back to back possessions and SDSU extended their lead to six. It was a welcomed sight for a team that has had their 2nd half struggles this year.
For GCU however, Nana Owusu-Anane and Jaden Henley wouldn’t let them fall back. Knocking down back to back three pointers it looked as if the Lopes shooting wouldn’t return to their normal 30% average.
And that’s when the offense went cold for the Aztecs. GCU pushed a lead to as much as 12 points while the Aztecs missed three’s (16% on the night), struggled with ball movement, and were often caught flat-footed defensively.
It appeared as though the Havocs and the Lopes were going to run Dutcher’s team right out of the gym until … insert BJ Davis and the Aztecs finally made a fantastic run of their own. Their ‘defense leads offense’ mentality clicked and that constant ball pressure on the Lopes revealed some cracks.
BJ Davis’ poise pulled lead the Aztecs to pull within four points with four minutes to play as they went on a 20-7 run.
The Aztecs then absolutely put a lid on the basket for the Lopes. GCU’s 3 pointers finally began to regress down to 10-27, 47% on the night. Even several close-up bunnies missed inside the final two minutes which led to run outs for the Aztecs.
Though freshman Elzie Harrington began the night hot—it was fellow freshman Tae Simmons who finished it on fire. On a fast break with under a minute left Reese Dixon-Waters missed the layup only for Simmons who was trailing was there to clean it up. The big put back gave SDSU the lead 69-68 with under 40 seconds.
Last weekend’s win over New Mexico featured the Aztecs knocking down free throws to seal the deal. But after a Lopes miss and foul of BJ Davis, the junior guard was unable to knock down the first of a 1 and 1 opportunity at the line. GCU took the ensuing possession and down just one did what you’re supposed to—take the action straight to the rim and hope you either make a bucket or get fouled.
On the night GCU wing players had the ability to break down SDSU off the dribble and get to the lane. But when Makaih Williams went up for the game winning score he was met by Miles Byrd who swatted his shot attempt down clean. And then came the whistle.
Byrd who had a bad shooting night on the floor (0-6 from deep) was the exact opposite defensively this night. His 8 rebounds, 3 blocks and 4 steals helped fuel the SDSU comeback and put them in position to win. It appeared block #4 was the game sealer. But when you play GCU in their home arena the emotion seems to have a way to take over their opponents and even the officials.
Makaih Williams nailed two free throws to send the Havocs into a frenzy and when the half court buzzer beater shot missed it was the end of a 7 game win streak for the Aztecs and a new beginning for the conference—putting the Mountain West race back in play.
The story of the game was GCU’s ability to shoot from deep way beyond their average, while SDSU shot extremely below theirs. SDSU slightly won the rebound, turnover, and points in the paint battle—but GCU’s bench scoring and free throws also did just enough to give them the edge this night.
Up next SDSU travels to UNLV this Saturday to take on a Runnin’ Rebels team at 1pm PST.
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2 Responses
Buckle up Aztecs! Never underestimate your opponent! Dig down deep dwelling into a new Zone that harbors you from letdowns, breakdowns and pardons!! JRC, Class of 1968!
Azteca Azteca sis boom bah, Azteca rah rah rah!