After practice Tuesday, San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher talked about getting through Wednesday night’s game against Cal Baptist unscathed and getting to a 10-day break “so we can fix some things.”
At the top of the list: rebounding.
Next on the list: rebounding.
The No. 23-ranked Aztecs were crushed on the boards and nearly blew a 19-point lead in the closing minutes against a Lancers team that was a 15½-point underdog before crossing the finish line on fumes as 81-75 victors.
“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 consecutive home game when shooting 50% or better. “Wow, our offense was great. It was elite tonight. We shot 55%, 19 assists, only seven turnovers, a high percentage from 3 (52.9%), everything we ran was working, we executed.
“Our defense was pretty good. It was our rebounding that betrayed us.”
Cal Baptist won the battle of boards 31-23. It was more pronounced on the offensive glass, where the Lancers had a 17-7 advantage and recovered nearly half their missed shots – an enormous number against a program whose bedrock is defense and rebounding.
The penalty came in the metrics, where the Aztecs (7-2) slipped from 37 to 43 in Kenpom – meaning no Mountain West team is currently in the top 40, where you’re typically safe for an at-large NCAA berth. They also plummeted in defensive efficiency, from sixth to 21st.
“We’ve just got to keep our foot on the pedal,” Miles Byrd said. “I feel like our team got a little content. Against a team like that – they play with a lot of confidence and shoot the ball really well – you have to stay at 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 3s (they made 12) and offensive put-backs by the Lancers got the margin to four and coaxed a Dutcher timeout with 1:46 left. Then the Aztecs calmly milked the shot clock and just beat it with a layup by Nick Boyd (16 points, eight assists) for a 79-73 lead.
They were bailed out from surrendering yet another offensive rebound on the next possession after a video review determined a 3-point attempt by Dominique Daniels Jr. (22 points) didn’t hit the rim and the shot clock expired, giving the ball to the Aztecs instead.
“Our people say that the ball hit the rim,” Cal Baptist coach Rick Croy said. “We thought we should have been taking the ball out at the baseline. Our film guy said the ball touched the rim. Those are tough calls. They only have so long to look at it. … We would have loved to have that possession on the baseline, but we didn’t get it.”
SDSU outshot the Lancers 54.9% to 45.3%, but the rebounding discrepancy gave the visitors 13 more shots. The Aztecs compensated at the free-throw line, where, bucking a trend in recent games, they made 11 more (16 to five) – their 41st straight win when attempting more free throws than their opponent.
They also got another big game from sophomore forward Miles Heide, who had 11 combined points in the season’s first seven games and has 18 in the last two after a career-high 10 in 16 minutes Wednesday.
“The confidence just wasn’t there (before),” said Heide, who had four of his team’s seven offensive rebounds. “The last two games, I feel like I got my confidence back and I can go out there and play my role for the team.”
The other positive: The youthful Aztecs didn’t fold down the stretch against a gritty CBU team that starts a junior and four seniors.
“We have an older group,” Croy said. “We’ve got veterans. They’ve been in the battles, and our preseason has been challenging. We played SMU. They beat us at the buzzer. We went to Central Florida.”
After six games in the past 16 days, the Aztecs play only once in the next 16 days, a neutral-court meeting against Cal in San Jose on Dec. 21. They’ll have nine or 10 practices and just that one game before Utah State comes to Viejas Arena on Dec. 28.
Time to fix some things.
“I just can’t wait to have some days to rest our bodies,” Byrd said. “That stretch, we’ve played a lot of physical teams. We’re all beat up. I think the 10 days off will give us the opportunity to come back with more urgency and more effort.”
Notable
This was the first meeting between SDSU and Cal Baptist in men’s basketball. CBU was the final Division I program in the state that the Aztecs hadn’t played … 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 to his nose in practice 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. Boyd left the game but returned three minutes later … The Aztecs were back in their home whites after wearing red uniforms against USD on Saturday.
