SAME START, BETTER FINISH
Aztecs jump out to big lead again, but hold on for easy win
Wheels, back on the wagon.
San Diego State didn’t lead Colorado State 38-12 again in their rematch Monday night. It led 37-11.
The biggest difference, of course, was what happened after that.
On Saturday, the Aztecs suffered an incomprehensible collapse and became the first team in Mountain West history to lose after leading by 26 or more points (let alone blowing a seven-point lead inside a minute to go). On Monday, it was far less dramatic — an easy 78-65 victory that amounted to a giant exhale for a proud program.
“We bounced back well,” said Matt Mitchell, who led a players meeting with fellow senior Jordan Schakel following Saturday’s meltdown. “We came together as an entire program. We knew we dropped the ball Saturday and knew we couldn’t do it again.
“We wanted to send a message not only to ourselves but to the rest of the conference that we’re here and we’re real.”
The wheels wobbled again, as a 29-point lead shrank to 14 midway through the second half when the Rams converted, yes, another fourpoint play.
But Schakel got nuclear hot behind the arc, and Nathan Mensah rejected anything near the rim (including a tomahawk dunk by 6-foot-10 James Moors). And the Aztecs (7-2, 1-1) gutted out a win that was much needed — particularly after learning earlier in the day that the NCAA’s all-important NET metric rated them only 41st, one spot below Colorado State and 28 below fellow Mountain West member Boise State.
It was sweet redemption for Schakel, who made several uncharacteristic defensive errors down the stretch Saturday, most notably the foul on John Tonje’s 3 with 12.3 seconds left that gave the Rams the lead after the ensu
ing free throw. And who had a string of subpar shooting performances following his 25-point outburst at Arizona State.
Schakel finished with a career-high 28 points on 9of-12 shooting, 8 of 11 behind the arc, to go with a nine rebounds that equaled his career best.
Eighteen of the points came in the second half. Five of the treys came in a dizzying stretch of just over six minutes after the Aztecs had gone scoreless for the previous 5½ minutes and the Rams took advantage to close to 14.
The Aztecs scored 21 points in those six-plus minutes to seal the game. Schakel had 15 of them.
Asked how much sleep he got Saturday night, Schakel said: “Didn’t really get a lot.”
Asked what was going through his mind as net danced Monday, he said: “Just keep shooting.”
“Every time we got within 14,” Colorado State coach Niko Medved said, “it seemed that we’d lose (Schakel) and he would bury a 3. He was just a killer.”
Mensah finished with 11
points and eight rebounds, plus three blocks, at least as many other shots altered and two drawn charges. Terrell Gomez added 13 points. Matt Mitchell had 12 after not attempting a shot for the game’s first eight minutes.
Colorado State (6-2, 3-1) found out what it’s like to be without a starter, after junior guard Kendle Moore left the team to attend to a “family matter.” Meanwhile, the Aztecs got Aguek Arop back after he was a late scratch Saturday with intestinal issues.
Arop didn’t start — Adam Seiko did again — but he made an instant impact off the bench, stealing a pass and gliding in for a layup. His night was cut short when the stomach problems returned midway through the second half. Keshad Johnson didn’t suit up after landing hard on a dunk Saturday.
Coach Brian Dutcher instills a “next play” mentality in his team, which applies on both a micro and macro level.
“We have to have an NBA mentality, as disappointed as we are,” Dutcher said after Saturday’s 70-67 loss. “We can’t let today’s loss lead to a loss on Monday because we’re so disappointed that all we can do is dwell on what happened. In the NBA you
play every other night constantly, and they have an ability to learn from what happened the night before but not let it affect the next game.
“And that’s what I want this team to do. I want them to believe they’re good. I want them to have a swagger about them.”
There were subtle tactical changes to the game plan. They attacked off the dribble more, moved the ball quicker and looked for Mensah on the screen and roll instead of settling for early 3s. Points in the paint went from 24-12, CSU, on Saturday to 24-22, SDSU.
On defense, they pressured the ball hard and tweaked their ball screen coverages, forcing 12 first-half turnovers by the Rams — one less than they had over the entire 40 minutes Saturday. Faster rotations also limited the Rams to seven 3s, four fewer than the first game.
And when the inevitable Rams run came, Dutcher quickly called timeout when it reached double figures — something he didn’t do during a 19-0 run Saturday and admitted later maybe he should have.
The similarities to Saturday’s game were almost eerie through the opening 12 minutes. The Aztecs made 13
of their first 18 shots Saturday; they made 13 of their first 18 Monday. The Rams missed their first six attempts behind the 3-point arc Saturday; they missed their first six Monday. Rams forward David Roddy got two early fouls Saturday; he got two early fouls Monday.
But this time, the Aztecs did not go the final seven minutes of the first half without a basket, finishing the opening 20 minutes shooting 67.9 percent — their highest in a first half since 2013.
The score at the break was 50-24, the 26-point deficit amounting to Colorado State’s largest at half in the last 25 seasons.
“The second half they made a run, they’re a good team,” said Dutcher, whose team hosts Nevada for two games on Thursday and Saturday. “But we kept our wits about us, we continued to play hard and we got a good victory, our first conference win of the season.
“Now I told them the same thing I did after we lost our first game. We have a quick turnaround we have to have an NBA mentality — enjoy this tonight but we have to go to work tomorrow because we play on Thursday.”