San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
BIG MAN MENSAH ANNOUNCES HIS PRESENCE WITH AUTHORITY
There he is. There’s that Nathan Mensah, the 6-10 royal rump pain patrolling the paint. There’s the laneclogging, shotaltering, rebounding, dunking nuisance in sneakers. One question lingered after No. 19 San Diego State’s 68-57 win against Utah State at the Thomas & Mack Center that secured the Mountain West Tournament championship and applied an official stamp on an NCAA Tournament invite already set in cement. Where has Mensah been? The junior center from Ghana followed two of his roughest games of the season with, given the circumstances, one of his very best. He deflected balls. He disrupted shots. He showed poise and power at the rim against Neemias Queta, the Mountain West media’s defensive player of the year.
A night earlier, Mensah went scoreless for the first time this season in a quarterfinal victory over Nevada, fouling out and snagging just two rebounds. A day before that against Wyoming, he tied a season-low with one rebound.
Then he flushed it all away. “Coach (Brian) Dutcher always says, live to fight another day,” Mensah explained. “The first two games, I was in foul trouble, but I still kept my poise and I knew it would pay off as time goes on.”
Mensah annoyed the Aggies like dime-store cologne. He finished with 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting, eight rebounds — three offensive — two blocks and a steal, a smorgasbord of diverse production.
When Mensah plays with that type of diverse production and elevated confidence, with the shooters and offensive options swirling around him, the Aztecs became an exponentially tougher out in the Big Dance.
“The thing about this team is, we can withstand a guy having an off game,” Dutcher said. “Nathan had an off game (Friday), but today
he stepped up and played magnificently, both at the defensive and offensive end.”
Mensah switched off his man to block Justin Bean’s shot on Utah State’s opening possession. Midway through the first half, he raced back with the Aztecs at a 5-on-3 disadvantage to corral a big, hustle rebound.
Moments later, he D’d up Queta and knocked the ball from his hands to spoil a trip. Moments after that, he slapped a ball away from the Aggies’ redwood again. Less than three minutes later, he stuffed Aggies’ guard Rollie Worster.
In a low-scoring game, all those small defensive moments felt collectively bigger. Queta had his moments, of course, as he piled up 18 points, six rebounds and three blocks, but Mensah made it uncomfortable enough to matter.
“Just the deflected passes,” Dutcher said. “We may not have got it, but every time they tried to throw it to Queta, he knocked two, three, four of them out of bounds. That disrupts the rhythm of the other team. He just made a lot of timely plays at the defensive end.”
Coming into the championship, the towering mystery named Mensah provided one of the biggest riddles of the Aztecs’ season.
In an eight-game, 35-day stretch starting Dec. 10, Mensah dominated. He recorded 17 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks at Arizona State, then remained as dependable as a sunrise as the schedule drifted through BYU, Saint Mary’s, Colorado State, Nevada and Utah State.
Though he missed the final 19 games a season ago while dealing with a pulmonary embolism, Mensah’s run seemed to indicate a major and sustainable breakthrough. He blew away season averages, with 12.8 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.6 blocks, while limiting fouls (2.6).
As he became better, so did the Aztecs’ NCAA Tournament prospects.
Then, the momentum vanished into the ether.
It became nearly impossible to know what Mensah would provide, then cratered two games into the Mountain West Tournament. Against Wyoming and Nevada, he averaged 3.5 rebounds, a half a point, one shot — and 4.5 fouls.
So, the Aztecs asked him to answer the call against title-game nemesis Utah State.
Not only did he answer. He threw the phone on the ground … then stomped it into fine powder.
“He can change the game,” Aggies coach Craig Smith said.
Mensah helped crafted a stout case for the Aztecs to move up the NCAA Tournament bracket to a 6-seed, or possibly a 5, after winning the regular-season and conference title by rattling off 14 consecutive victories.
The re-emergence of Mensah, if it’s sustained, reshapes the dynamic of San Diego State’s lineup — no matter what line they land on.
“Nathan is a force on both ends,” said Matt Mitchell, tournament MVP. “(He’s) one of those guys who can really dominate … When’s he playing at a high level, I think it only ups our level.”
Shortly after the Aztecs stormed the court to claim the championship trophy, Mensah raised his arms to the rafters with the commemorative T-shirt marking the title pulled down just past his shoulder blades.
Mensah’s not polished at celebrations.
“He’s just a soft-spoken kid,” Dutcher said. “He competes hard. He practices hard every day, but he’s not real verbal. He goes about his business (in) a workmanlike fashion. That’s how he was today on the floor. He was very workmanlike.” Mensah’s back.
And with the NCAA Tournament just around the corner, it might be just in time.