LAS VEGAS — The marquee may have featured Mountain West Player of the Year winners Jaedon LeDee and Great Osobor, but the San Diego State men’s basketball team took down the Utah State Aggies 86-70, thanks to sterling efforts up and down the lineup.
Micah Parrish bounced back from an 0-for-8 shooting night in the quarterfinal with 15 points, his highest scoring output since non-conference play. Lamont Butler contributed 16 points, Reese Waters added 11 points and Darrion Trammell scored 10 points.
“I knew I had to break out soon,” Parrish said. “I knew I put the work in. I work on my shot every day and knew one day it was going to come — today it came.”
The Aztecs needed it, as LeDee picked up his second personal foul just 3:58 into the game.
Parrish was the first to step up, making three straight shots in a 58 second stretch as part of his 10 first half points. After shooting a combined 9-of-34 over the past three games, Parrish made his first five shots from the field.
Trammell splashed a critical 3-pointer at the end of the first half for the second straight night, knocking down a step back from straight away to pull SDSU within 39-36 at the half. He led the Scarlet and Black in assists for the seventh straight game, tying for the game-high with five helpers.
“We came out (in) the second half, played our continually good defense and (Parrish and Reese Waters) made shots,” said head coach Brian Dutcher. “Today when they make shots, you can see what our offense looks like… I believe the ball is going in every time that they shoot it.”
Waters and Butler were the perfect spice to a second half offense that had a heavy focus on LeDee.
SDSU took the lead on five straight possessions starting at two and a half minutes into the second, with Butler knocking down triples on back-to-back trips. His depth charge at the 14:49 mark gave the Aztecs the lead for good, as the senior from Moreno Valley, California, scored 11 points in the second half.
Then it was Waters’ turn to keep the Aggies at arm’s reach, making four of the Aztecs’ six buckets over a 5:21 stretch for a 12-point lead with just under five minutes to play. It was his first time in double-digits since Feb. 24.
The back-to-back-to-back tournament format played a significant part in the performance.
“I think as a team not having a week to sit down and think about maybe whatever you did in the game that you didn’t like, it definitely helps that you have a turnaround so you have to focus on the next game,” Waters said.
SDSU had edges in all of the ‘team’ stats, getting more from their bench (17-10), winning the rebounding battle (43-35) and taking the edge in assists 14-10.
Now, for the seventh straight year, the Scarlet and Black will be playing for the Mountain West tournament championship. Tip off against the No. 6 seed New Mexico Lobos will be at 3 p.m. at the Thomas & Mack Center.
