Aztecs raise Final Four banner, then rush to big lead on the way to win over Cal State Fullerton

The halftime entertainment at Viejas Arena was high-heeled speed painter Jessica K. Haas, with a black canvas and a palate of paints to the soundtrack of thumping house music while she depicted Lamont Butler’s winning shot at the Final Four.

Until she flipped it over, it was hard to tell what she was painting – sort of like the game.

No. 17 San Diego State played before its fans for the first time since reaching the national championship game last April, then took a 14-0 lead, then blew all but one point of it, then pulled away in the second half to beat Cal State Fullerton 83-57.

A year ago, these same teams also met in the season opener. The Aztecs won 80-57.

The difference was that last year they didn’t unveil a Final Four banner before tip-off.

“I’m going to look at it every day and then go to work,” coach Brian Dutcher said. “Step onto Steve Fisher Court and look at a Final Four banner. A lot of good stuff has happened here. This is a fun place.

“And then the crowd tonight? Come on. The energy in the building was incredible. We feed off that.”

Jaedon LeDee, their 6-foot-9, 240-pound senior beast, certainly did. He was borderline unstoppable, even for a Titans team that starts a 6-9, 235 pounder, and finished with a career-high 27 points to go with 10 rebounds and a preposterous 13 fouls drawn in 34 minutes.

LeDee even made a 3-pointer, the first of his career. He was 0 of 18 – 0 of 7 in previous stops at Ohio State and TCU, 0 of 9 last season at SDSU and 0 of 2 Monday night before he drained one from the top with 2:39 to go to put the Aztecs up 27 and prompt Dutcher to send in the walk-ons.

Micah Parrish shook off first-half foul trouble (three in five minutes) as well as preseason shooting doldrums (1 of 13 behind the arc), equaling his career best with five 3-pointers (in six attempts) to finish with 17 points. USC transfer Reese Waters added 15 in his Aztecs debut, and Lamont Butler had eight points and seven assists.

The defense had some hiccups but otherwise didn’t disparage the program’s legacy, holding the Titans to 32.4 percent shooting and forcing 18 turnovers that it converted into 22 points. Grayson Carper (13 points) and Max Jones (11) both scored in double figures for Fullerton … but they shot a combined 8 of 33 and had eight turnovers.

It was SDSU’s 35th straight win against current members of the Big West and 17th straight in a season opener against an unranked opponent.

“Very similar,” Titans coach Dedrique Taylor said when asked how last year’s and this year’s Aztecs compare. “Obviously, the experience of last year’s team just overwhelms you at the end of the game because they had five- and six-year guys, multiple guys. (But) I think they’re just as talented.”

The Aztecs, to a man, would just as soon move on.

Three banners were unveiled before tip-off: one for the Mountain West regular-season title, one for the conference tournament title and one for the historic run through the NCAA Tournament to the championship game. That one hangs above the bench sideline and required moving Kawhi Leonard’s retired jersey to the left.

“I was ready to stop talking about last year,” Parrish said. “This year, we have to step it up. We can’t keep going off of last year. It’s a new year, a new us, new team, new energy. I was ready. I’m happy the chapter closed.”

The new chapter opened with a blistering 14-0 run despite not having guard Darrion Trammell, entering his fifth week of an increasingly worrisome shoulder injury.

“The emotion, the atmosphere overwhelmed our group and stifled us,” Taylor said. “Credit to San Diego State. Credit to their fans. That’s what they’ve created here. They’re No. 17 in the country for a reason, and you have to respect that. But I thought out guys stayed the course, they stayed together and they did a good job of battling back.”

That they did, grabbing 11 first-half offensive boards and closing to 37-35 at halftime. They got a 12^th moments into the second half and had a possession to take the lead.

They didn’t. Three minutes later, they were down 12.

Number of Fullerton offensive boards over the final 19 minutes: one.

Second half score: Aztecs 46, Titans 22.

It wasn’t perfect. The Aztecs attempted 31 shots behind the arc and made 29 percent. Take away Parrish, and they were 4 of 25. They also missed 10 free throws, had 14 turnovers and were outscored 12-7 on second-chance points.

And it gets exponentially harder now: in altitude Friday night at BYU, which won its opener 110-63 against Division I Houston Christian (formerly Houston Baptist).

“We learned lessons and we won,” Dutcher said. “But we’re going to learn lessons and lose at some point, too. It’s what you do with those lessons. It’s just the first step on the journey.”

Notable

Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove led the “I Believe” chant with the SDSU students before the game … The Aztecs have won seven straight home games and 39 of the last 41 … The officials: Bill Vinovich, Frank Harvey III and Janetta Graham … Freshmen Miles Heide and BJ Davis both played, meaning they cannot redshirt this season … Saunders started for Trammell and had five points, a rebound, an assist, two steals and a block in the opening five minutes before finishing with nine points and five rebounds.