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Story by Liz Alper
Photos by Cris Rangel
November 2, 2017 (San Diego) - November is back and so is SDSU men’s basketball. The Aztecs of the court opened their season tonight against crosstown rival UCSD under new ownership; tonight was Brian Dutcher’s first game as head coach. Click “read more” to see how he—and they—did.
The Tritons jumped out to a hot start, but the Aztecs found themselves back up thanks to some smooth plays by sophomore Nolan Narain forward, but the Tritons jumped out in front again. Junior forward Eric Patton kept the Tritons in the lead, but it was brand new Aztecs freshman forward Matt Mitchell getting the lead with a big three pointer. Patton and the Tritons still stuck around, though, as Patton hit a big three to continue the seesaw game and put the Tritons in front by one. Finally, with five and a half minutes left, the Aztecs started to get the ball rolling. Three field goals by senior center Kameron Rooks and back to back threes by the guards, senior Trey Kell and junior Jeremy Hemsley, including a three by another new face for the Aztecs, freshman Jordan Schakel, put SDSU up big at the half. Mitchell added another three before the half was out and the Aztecs led 49-38 as they headed to the locker room.
The Aztecs came out slow in the second half, but kept up the pressure as the half trekked along, including a monster dunk from Hemsley to put the Aztecs up by 20. The Tritons tried chipping away with a three by junior forward Brett Oosdyke and a put-back by senior guard George Buaku, but the Aztecs stayed in front by playing some good basketball. Senior forward Malik Pope, who had had a lackluster game until this point, made an appearance with a one-handed jam. Mitchell added one of his own and the new, improved, Dutcherized Aztecs took game one of their season in commanding fashion with a 98-79 win.
“UCSD played a good game and we knew they would,” Dutcher said after the game. “we knew it would be a challenge, so it was good for us...I thought we played the right way for the most part...I’m very pleased with our performance tonight.
“The team is focused. That’s the most important thing. They’re not distracted...I told them ‘we’re good at the things we practice’…we spent a lot of time on our offense, I think it’s showing...but I think their focus is the most important thing right now. They seem like they wanna get better at every aspect of their games and that’s showing in the games and in practice.”
The Aztecs stay in town on Friday for their usual preseason matchup against San Diego Christian. Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m.
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