LAS VEGAS — When SDSU needed a reminder of who it is, the Aztecs found the answer in the most familiar place possible: defense.
In Thursday night’s 71-62 Mountain West quarterfinal win over No. 7 Colorado State, No. 2 San Diego State did not shoot well enough to make the game easy. The team made just one 3-pointer. They missed 20 free throws. They went long stretches without any offensive rhythm.
And still, the Aztecs led comfortably for much of the night because their defense gave the Rams almost nothing easy.
Colorado State, one day removed from its first-round win over Fresno State, never looked fully comfortable against San Diego State’s pressure, physicality and interior resistance. The Rams finished just 19-of-57 from the field, good for 33.3%, and although they hit 13-of-34 from beyond the arc, the Aztecs erased nearly everything inside it. Colorado State made only six 2-point baskets all game and was outscored 42-8 in the paint.
That was the story.
“Getting a bye helped, and not only for legs, but we spent four days, no disrespect for Fresno — we spent four days getting ready for Colorado State,” said head coach Brian Dutcher. “I think everyone could see we were pretty locked in defensively.”
Locked in was the right phrase. The Aztecs disrupted the entire flow of the Rams’ offense.
That discomfort showed up possession after possession. Colorado State struggled to establish rhythm in the half-court, struggled to create clean interior looks and struggled to keep San Diego State from turning each catch-and-dribble into a collision. The Rams were forced into tough shots, late-clock situations and a perimeter-heavy attack because so little was available around the basket.
“I just think we did a good job being physical and disrupting them,” forward Pharaoh Compton said. “Just really not letting them get into their sets.”
San Diego State’s physical tone mattered from the outset, but it became even more important considering Colorado State’s recent offensive form. The Rams entered the quarterfinal as one of the hotter teams in the conference, winning nine out of their last 10 games.
They had just seen forward Carey Booth score 18 points against Fresno State in the opening round. Thursday was different. Booth finished with only seven points.
Aztecs guard Miles Byrd credited freshman Tae Simmons and the Aztecs’ collective effort for making Booth work all night.
“Just be physical with him,” Byrd said. “Tae started on him. Tae, for a freshman, he’s a physical specimen. I thought he did a good job making him uncomfortable.”
That defensive discipline allowed San Diego State to survive an unusual stat line. Colorado State shot a respectable 38.2% from 3-point range and an efficient 84.6% from the free-throw line, but the Aztecs essentially made the Rams live from the outside. For all of Colorado State’s 3-point makes, it could not build a complete offense because the paint belonged to San Diego State.
Rams head coach Ali Farokhmanesh acknowledged as much afterward when asked about his team’s 33% shooting night.
“I think the physicality led to some of the shot selection too,” Farokhmanesh said.
Colorado State guard Jase Butler echoed that sentiment.
“I just thought they’ve been really aggressive, their long, athletic team, and they forced us in tough shots,” Butler said of San Diego State’s defense.
He later added, “They gamble. They’re super aggressive. They got shot blockers, and they kind of play the passing lanes and gaps. So when you drive, it kind of just swarms.”
That swarm has long been part of San Diego State’s identity, and on Thursday, it looked fully restored. Even when the Aztecs’ offense stalled late and the missed free throws piled up, the defense never cracked. Colorado State spent the final push trying to chip away at the lead, but every missed San Diego State free throw was answered by another defensive stop.
On a night when the Aztecs shot 1-for-11 from deep and nearly let the box score turn into a math problem, that identity carried them anyway.
San Diego State will look to lock down New Mexico State the same way when they face each other in the Mountain West Semifinals tonight at 9 p.m.
