In this year’s regular season, San Diego State proved their team was talented enough to lead a second-half comeback. On Jan. 28, just seven weeks ago, the Aztecs were down by 21 against San Jose State and still managed to steal a win.
On Tuesday night, in the program’s only NCAA First Four appearance, the Aztecs fell behind by 40 points, a deficit they haven’t faced all season.
“We got down by so many, at that point, you’re just trying to find a way to go on any kind of run to hang in there,” SDSU head coach Brian Dutcher said in the postgame press conference. “But they expanded the lead, and then it was just trying to play for pride at that point.”
The North Carolina Tar Heels (23-13) crushed the San Diego State Aztecs (21-10) at UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio to advance to the first round of the men’s NCAA DI tournament.
The Tar Heels shot 52.6% (30-57) from the field and 58.3% (14-24) from three in the dominant victory. North Carolina’s scoring was led by senior guard RJ Davis (26), who was a perfect 6-6 from three.
“We made some mistakes where we gave [RJ Davis] a couple good looks, but he’s capable of making hard looks, too,” Dutcher said. “He’s a gifted player and he got on a roll, and he’s hard to guard when that happens.”
The last time the Scarlet and Black had 95 or more scored against them in regulation was on Feb. 22, 2006, when BYU put up 100. The matchup was North Carolina’s 12th time this season scoring 90 or more.
Aztec guard BJ Davis opened the scoring with a jump shot from the top of the key, giving SDSU an early advantage. In response, Tar Heel sophomore guard Elliot Cadeau drained a bucket of his own, ending State’s only lead of the night.
Cadeau finished the game with 12 dimes and nine points, the sixth time this season that he recorded 10 or more assists.
From then on, UNC rarely missed. In the first half, the Tar Heels shot 60.9% from the field, 77.8% (7-9) from deep and broke away with a 30-9 scoring run.
With around 12 minutes left in the first, the Aztecs fell into a dismal shooting slump and failed to score for over 6 minutes. By the time the Scarlett and Black found life, they were down by more than 20.
As if the daunting deficit wasn’t enough, North Carolina topped off their statement half with a buzzer-beater three, giving them a 47-23 lead.
One of the keys to UNC’s offensive success was spreading the ball. The Tar Heels had six different players score nine or more points including RJ Davis, Seth Trimble (16), Ven-Allen Lubin (12), Jae’Lyn Withers (10), Ian Jackson (9) and Cadeau.
San Diego State’s struggles continued early in the second and the season appeared to be slipping away. All Mountain West Second Team guard Miles Byrd left the game due to an ankle injury and the scoring gap ballooned past 30. Byrd finished with just four points and three turnovers.
The ‘Tecs’ lowest point of the night came when RJ Davis hit his sixth consecutive three, giving the Tar Heels a 40-point lead. The veteran guard is the third all-time leading scorer in ACC history behind only Tyler Hansbrough (2872) and J.J. Redick (2769).
Byrd returned from injury with six minutes remaining but the damage was done. UNC closed out the win and extended their undefeated streak against SDSU. This was the third time the two schools have faced off.
Mountain West Freshman and Defensive Player of the Year, Magoon Gwath, rejoined the starting lineup after missing the last six games due to injury. He had nine points and five boards in the loss. Nick Boyd and Wayne Mckinney III each had a team-high 12 points.
UNC entered tournament season scoring from beyond the arc at a high rate. The First Four win over SDSU marks the sixth time in the last 11 games that the team has made 10 or more 3-pointers in a game.
“I knew going into the game, I had watched them on tape, that they were playing really well, that they were playing tight,” Dutcher said in the presser. “I thought they were ready for any situation. They’re well-coached, and they’re talented, and they’re playing really good basketball right now.”
Since the NCAA began seeding teams, the Tar Heels have made the tournament 41 times—the lowest they had ever been seeded until this year was 8. No.11 UNC now advances to face 6-seeded Ole Miss (22-11) in the round of 64.
This was the 17th time San Diego State had made the NCAA tournament and the fifth time they were a double-digit seed in March. Brian Dutcher has led his team to the NCAA tournament in six of his eight seasons as head coach.
Officially in the offseason, the focus now shifts toward roster improvements for next year. Evolving the returning players and recruiting new faces will be the top priority of the summer.
“Six of our top 10 are freshmen or sophomores. So they have to grow,” Dutcher said. “They have to have a learning experience, and they have to come back and get better physically and mentally and become better players. Obviously we have to add pieces. We’ll look at what we have coming back and find out what our deficiencies are and try to fill some of those deficiencies.”
