San Diego State men’s basketball season is back as they hosted their lone exhibition match at Viejas Arena in an 81-50 victory over Cal State San Marcos on Monday evening.
The Scarlet and Black shot 45.8% out from the field while out-rebounding the cougars, 53-21. SDSU controlled the inside game throughout the night, outscoring the opposition (36-12) in the paint and had a 21-7 advantage from points off turnovers.
Senior forward Jaedon LeDee led all scorers with 20 points off of 5-12 shooting, while shooting 8-of-10 at the free point line for the Aztecs. Freshman forward Miles Heide also had double figures in points, coming off the bench with 10.
Fourteen Aztecs saw playing time on the court, and of those 14, 11 made at least one field goal.
LeDee brought down eight rebounds, while Heide grabbed and rebounded seven. Sophomore Elijah Saunders recorded eight rebounds as well in the win, along with eight points for the night.
Saunders spoke on his new role within the team this season and making his presence felt on offense.
“I would say knowing when to roll and knowing when to pop in,” the second year player said. “Just finding that balance when to play powerful and playing off the perimeter — that’s going to be the biggest challenge.”
SDSU got off to a slow start early with Cal State San Marcos taking a 9-4 lead by the first timeout of the game, then building their lead to six points through the first five and a half minutes.
Momentum soon shifted as sophomore guard Miles Byrd landed a second chance layup with 14:17 on the clock to spark a fast 6-0 run for the Scarlet and Black.
The rest of the first half had the Aztecs above San Marcos, outscoring the Cougars by 13, marked by a three made by freshman guard BJ Davis with only nine seconds left in play. The Aztecs entered halftime with a 43-30 lead.
The second half was all San Diego State as they continued to push their lead out to 20 points by the second media timeout of the half.
Over a 5:32 span, the scoring run reached a high of 14-1 and saw SDSU lead the Cougars 69-38, with seven and a half minutes remaining. A big contribution in the run was the defense, which forced Cal State San Marcos to miss 11 straight shots and make only one in 18 total attempts.
Head coach Brian Dutcher spoke on what stood out on the defensive side of the ball, and what to take away from the defense’s impressive play.
“We pick up full court, we pressure the ball, we switch some screens and they made some threes,” Dutcher said. “The hard thing is maintaining your concentration. That’s the hardest thing in basketball.”
The Aztecs cruised the rest of the game as their lead never fell below 29 points within the final eight minutes of gametime to mark a 81-50 win.
The Aztecs return to Viejas Arena on Monday, Nov. 6 as they host Cal State Fullerton for their season opener. Tip-off will be at 7:30 p.m.
