The San Diego State men’s basketball team won 88-76 against Long Beach State on Tuesday night at Viejas Arena.
The crowd at Viejas never disappoints, showing school spirit with chants and cheering. The Aztecs played their annual Nike N7 game, honoring Native American Heritage Month.
Before the game started, there was a moment of silence in honor of Padres Owner, Peter Seidler, who had passed away earlier in the day. Head coach Brian Dutcher talked about Seidler and what he meant to the community of San Diego.
“As much as (Seidler) meant to the Padres, he meant more to the city,” Dutcher said. “With his charitable contributions, Lucky Duck Foundation, his heart (is) what we’ll miss more than anything.”
Five Aztecs scored in double digits, with forward Jaedon LeDee putting up 27 points while going 10-of-10 from the free throw line. Elijah Saunders scored a career-high of 11 points, also not missing any free throws, 6-of-6 on the line.
Lamont Butler scored 14 points, Micah Parrish had 13 and Reese Waters scored 15 points for the third game in a row.
“Yeah, Reese is a very good player and the thing I like best about Reese right now is I’m not noticing him on defense, which means he’s not making a lot of mistakes,” Dutcher said. “And that’s what you have to do to play in this program. You have to be a good defender. And Reese is playing very good defense and that pleases me more than anything right now.”
The Aztecs started off the first half strong and had so much momentum as the crowd was cheering them on as they scored.
A couple of specific plays in the first half were in a one-minute span; guard Darrion Trammell passed the ball between his legs football-snap-style to LeDee, who finished the play with a score.
After that play and the next possession came around, Trammell scored a 3-pointer with an assist from Parrish. Then for the next possession for the Aztecs, Butler passed the ball to LeDee, who went for the fast break layup.
“We got to get three stops in a row and if we get three stops and score that’s where you build your momentum,” Dutcher said. “I think we got three, four or five stops in a row in a stretch there. And so when you’re getting stops and then you’re scoring three or four in a row, that’s really all of a sudden it goes from two or four to six, eight, 10, 12-point lead, and that’s what we were able to do tonight.”
Later in the half, Parrish went for a block against Long Beach, and once the Aztecs took possession of the ball, Parrish received it and went on for a poster dunk on defending guard Marcus Tsohonis.
“(Parrish) surprised me,” Dutcher said. “He gets one occasionally in practice like that, but he had a couple today and he aggressively attacked the basket and he finished strong and it was good to see. You know, he’s not just a jump shooter — he’s capable of finishing at the rim and he did that today. So I’m sure that will be a boost in confidence for him leading into this weekend’s tournament.”
Both teams were sloppy at the beginning of the second half, with many loose balls and steals. Starting the second half, Long Beach started to change many defenses on the Aztecs, they upped the pressure with double-teams, which caused the Aztecs to slow down.
“They kind of were playing a lot of different defenses,” Butler said. “They did a one-three-one on us, a two-thirds court, three-quarter court press. So, it was just trying to figure out what they were doing. I think the turnovers came from us not knowing exactly what they were doing. We were kind of being tentative.”
By the end of the game, the Aztecs were 28-of-58 in field goals: 9-24 in 3-pointers, and 23-30 in free throws. Long Beach State went 27-of-54 in field goals: 7-of-17 on 3-pointers and 15-of-20 in free throws.
“I don’t think we put them on the foul line a lot which pleased me,” Dutcher said. “We shot 30 free throws and they shot 20. So that’s a plus for us to play that aggressive of a team and get that many more free throws than they had that was a difference in the game.
Butler and Waters shared how they take care of themselves physically and mentally as student-athletes when it comes to being in such a big sports program.
“I really try to stay away from basketball at certain times just to keep my mind fresh,” Waters said. “I’ll read, call my family members, hang out with family members… easing my mind, relaxing, meditating and praying.”
“I’ll say on game days, my routine is more like, before shoot around, I don’t want to do anything,” Butler said. “I just want to lay down, and just be at home and just relax. Once shoot around comes, that’s the time I lock in on the game plan.”
The Aztecs will return home on Monday, Nov. 27 at Viejas Arena when they face Point Loma Nazarene at 7 p.m.
