No. 23 Aztecs nearly blow 19-point lead to beat Cal Baptist – San Diego Union-Tribune

After Tuesday’s practice, San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher talked about getting through Wednesday night’s game against Cal Baptist unscathed and taking a 10-day break “so we can get some things straightened out.”

At the top of the list: rebounding.

Next on the list: rebounding.

The No. 23 Aztecs were crushed along the boards and nearly blew a 19-point lead in the final minutes against a Lancers team that was 15½-point underdogs before crossing the finish line victorious, 81-75.

“Wouldn’t basketball be great if you could only talk about the good things, like our offense?” Dutcher said as the Aztecs won their 99th straight home game with a shooting percentage of 50% or better. “Wow, our offense was great. Tonight it was elite. We shot 55%, 19 assists, only seven turnovers, a high percentage from 3 (52.9%), everything we ran worked, we executed.

“Our defense was pretty good. It was our rebound that gave us away.”

Cal Baptist won the board battle 31-23. It was more pronounced on offense, where the Lancers had a 17-7 lead and recovered nearly half of their misses – a huge number against a program whose cornerstones are defense and rebounding.

The penalty came in the stats, where the Aztecs (7-2) slipped from 37 to 43 in Kenpom – meaning no Mountain West team is currently ranked in the top 40, where one is usually assured of a spot in the NCAA to grab. Their defensive efficiency also plummeted from sixth to 21st.

“We just have to keep our foot on the pedal,” Miles Byrd said. “I feel like our team is a little bit happy. Against a team like that that plays with a lot of confidence and shoots the ball really well, you have to stick with it and keep your foot on the gas.”

Byrd’s two free throws with 7.5 seconds left gave him a team-high 19 points and sealed it.

The score nine minutes earlier: 68-49.

A flurry of three-pointers (they made 12) and offensive putbacks by the Lancers made the lead four and forced a timeout for the Dutchers with 1:46 left. Then the Aztecs calmly took advantage of the shot clock and narrowly beat it with a layup from Nick Boyd (16 points, eight assists), giving them a 79-73 lead.

They were stopped from giving up another offensive rebound on the next possession after a video review revealed that a 3-point attempt by Dominique Daniels Jr. (22 points) failed to hit the rim and the shot clock expired, putting the ball in Instead the hands fell Aztecs.

“Our guys say the ball hit the rim,” Cal Baptist coach Rick Croy said. “We thought we should have gotten the ball out on the baseline. Our film man said the ball hit the rim. These are tough decisions. You only have a limited time to watch it. … We would have liked to have had possession of the ball on the baseline, but we didn’t get it.”

SDSU outscored the Lancers 54.9% to 45.3%, but the rebound mismatch gave the visitors 13 more shots. The Aztecs tied the score at the free throw line, where, bucking the trend of recent games, they scored 11 more goals (16 to five) – their 41st straight win when they attempted more free throws than their opponent.

They also got another big game from second-year forward Miles Heide, who scored a total of 11 points in the first seven games of the season and 18 points in the last two after scoring a career-high 10 in 16 minutes on Wednesday had scored points.

“The confidence just wasn’t there (before),” said Heide, who had four of his team’s seven offensive rebounds. “In the last two games I feel like I’ve got my confidence back and that I can go out and play my role for the team.”

The other positive: The young Aztecs didn’t crack up against a stubborn CBU team that started one junior and four seniors.

“We have an older group,” Croy said. “We have veterans. They have been in the fight and our pre-season has been challenging. We played SMU. They beat us at the buzzer. We went to Central Florida.”

After six games in the last 16 days, the Aztecs play just one more time in the next 16 days, a neutral-site meeting against Cal on Dec. 21 in San Jose. They have nine or 10 practices and just this one game before Utah State comes to Viejas Arena on December 28th.

Time to fix some things.

“I can’t wait to have a few days to rest our bodies,” Byrd said. “We played a lot of physical teams during that time. We’re all beaten up. I think the 10 days off will give us the opportunity to come back with greater urgency and greater commitment.”

Remarkable

This was the first meeting between SDSU and Cal Baptist in men’s basketball. CBU was the last Division I program in the state where the Aztecs did not participate…Adam Seiko, a member of the SDSU team that reached the 2023 national championship game, was in attendance…DeGourville wore a clear protective mask after taking a hit had his nose in practice on Monday… CBU forward AJ Braun was assessed a flagrant one foul in the first half for elbowing Boyd in the head midway through the first half had. Boyd left the game but returned three minutes later… The Aztecs were back in their home white jerseys after wearing red uniforms against USD on Saturday.

Originally published: December 11, 2024 at 9:06 pm PST