Practice ended Monday, and San Diego State basketball coach Brian Dutcher walked straight to the JAM Center bathroom.
To wash his hands. They were covered in black ink.
Dutcher likes to use his hands as a whiteboard eraser, and he had been scribbling plays all practice tweaking the Aztecs’ offense, squiggles here, arrows there.
It was worth the extra soap. The freshly unranked Aztecs dropped 47 points in the first half Tuesday (despite a missed uncontested dunk on the break) and rode it to an 88-76 win against Long Beach State at Viejas Arena in a nice bounce-back from Friday’s loss at BYU.
Dutcher is now 35-3 and has won 28 straight when his team scores in the 80s.
“We really moved the ball well,” Lamont Butler said after the Aztecs had 20 assists on 28 baskets. “We were finding each other. The ball had energy, something the coaches were harping on. … Against BYU, the ball was getting a little sticky. We really emphasized moving the ball, moving at pace, going through out actions hard so we can get open.
“Tonight was just one example of what we can do.”
San Diego State guard Lamont Butler reacts after guard Micah Parrish’s dunk.
(Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Another possible factor: They were wearing their turquoise N7 Nike uniforms to commemorate Native American Heritage Month. This is the 10th annual N7 game, and the Aztecs are now 10-0 in turquoise at Viejas Arena.
The game is always in November and usually against a lesser opponent, but the Beach was no day at it. Don Monson’s team received first-place votes in the Big West preseason coaches poll and was three days removed from a 77-73 win at Big East member DePaul.
“They really shared the ball,” Monson said. “They put us on our heels. The ball was moving faster than we were. Against a team like that, you’ve got to try to keep the ball on one side because you don’t have enough to guard that. And they hit some 3s they hadn’t done in the first two games.”
And one other thing: They have Jaedon LeDee.
He matched his career high, set in the opener against Cal State Fullerton, with 27 points to go with 11 rebounds. And from the obscure stat department: He becomes only the second player in the Dutcher/Steve Fisher era to score 25 or more points while making at least one 3 and being perfect at the line (with at least 10 attempts), joining all-time school scoring leader Brandon Heath (who did it four times).
“When they get in a rhythm there,” Monson said, “as tough as LeDee is inside and you have to guard inside-out like that, it’s a long day.”
San Diego State guard Lamont Butler goes up for a shot against Long Beach State.
(Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The bench was relatively unproductive again, outscored 27-8 by its Beach counterparts. But who needs a bench when your entire starting five scores in double figures for the first time in 108 games?
USC transfer Reese Waters overcame early trouble (and only 3½ first-half minutes) to finish with 15 after also scoring exactly 15 in his first two games in an Aztecs uniform. Butler had 14, Parrish had 13 (including a pair of flying dunks down the lane over defenders) and Elijah Saunders had 11.
The Aztecs were still short-handed, with sophomores Miles Byrd (hip) and Demarshay Johnson Jr. (shoulder) sidelined for the second straight game. Darrion Trammell, who missed the final month of preseason practice with a shoulder issue, came off the bench again and had a team-high six assists.
One of them you might see on SportsCenter. The 5-10 guard took a pass under the basket cutting behind Long Beach State’s 1-3-1 zone and, surrounded by bigs, “hiked” the ball between his legs to LeDee for an easy hoop.
“He might have a career as a long snapper in the NFL,” Dutcher said. “I’ve coached a long time. That might be the only time I’ve ever seen that.”
San Diego State forward Jay Pal passes against Long Beach State forward Amari Stroud.
(Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
SDSU led by 13 early, but the Beach hung around like (pardon the pun) sand in your sneakers. The lead was down to eight at halftime and just three early in the second half as the Aztecs struggled against a variety of halfcourt and full court zones.
It was a whistle-happy game as both teams attacked the basket, and seven players – four from SDSU, three from Long Beach State – had two fouls in the first half. The difference was Dutcher parked his on the bench while Monson gambled with his on the floor, and eventually the strategy caught up with him.
Down six with 8:23 to go, 6-foot-10 Ivory Coast center Lassina Traore got his fourth foul. Monson left him in, and he got his fifth 34 seconds later.
Less than two minutes later, Jadon Jones got his fifth and another starter was gone. (Two others finished with four fouls.)
That triggered a 9-0 run that put the game away, punctuated by a drive down the lane and two-handed dunk by Parrish. It was the second most spectacular dunk of the night by the lefty, bested by a right-handed jam over Amari Stroud.
“Crazy,” Butler said.
Two other areas of improvement: Opening the game 5 of 6 behind the arc and making nine total after going 5 of 18 at BYU, and holding the Beach to three offensive rebounds after surrendering 25 in the first two games.
Two areas of needed improvement: Eighteen turnovers, and allowing the Beach to shoot 50 percent overall (and 41.2 percent on 3s).
“I was nervous about Long Beach,” Dutcher said. “They’ve got a good team. They’ve got experience, they’ve got size and strength, they’re well coached. I thought we did a good job adjusting as the game went on.”
Notable
Next up: Friday against Saint Mary’s at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in the first round of the Continental Tire Main Event. The winner/loser plays Xavier or Washington on Sunday … A moment of silence was observed before tip-off for Padres owner Peter Seidler, who passed away earlier in the day … In attendance was John Higgins, a top referee who retired from wearing the stripes to run the western officiating consortium that includes the Mountain West and several other conferences. Higgins’ last game was the NCAA final last April between SDSU and UConn …
It was SDSU’s 36th straight win against current members of the Big West. The Aztecs play two more this season: Dec. 1 at UCSD and Dec. 9 at home against UC Irvine … It was their 16th win in the last 17 meetings with Long Beach State … The 47 points were the most in a first half in 2½ seasons … Parrish, LeDee and Butler all played 33-plus minutes. Waters played just under 19 in the second half. Only Trammell (24) played more than 11 minutes off the bench.
