Too big, too athletic, too strong, too quick, too poised, too experienced, too healthy.
Too much.
Too soon.
San Diego State’s young, hobbled basketball team got a taste of the level it aspires to this season, competing in spurts, struggling in others, before succumbing 80-67 against No. 3 Gonzaga at sold-out Viejas Arena.
It was the first time in at least two decades that the Aztecs were a double-digit underdog at home (the opening line was 11.5 points) and the most lopsided defeat here in eight years at what usually is an impregnable fortress. It also dropped their all-time record in the Division I era against the top five of the Associated Press rankings to 1-19.
“We knew this was going to be tough,” said coach Brian Dutcher, who was already missing star guard Reese Waters with a broken foot and then got zero points from hobbled wing Miles Byrd. “I didn’t think we gave in, but I don’t think we got close enough to make them feel us.
“If we could have got it to six points — it doesn’t sound like a lot, just (two) points more than we got to — I think they would have start to feel the crowd a little more. We didn’t get quite into striking distance.”
Here’s what he was talking about:
The Aztecs were within eight with nine minutes to go, the crowd was ready to explode, when the Zags missed a shot. But SDSU freshman Pharaoh Compton collapsed out of bounds under the basket with leg cramps, and the Zags played volleyball at the rim, grabbing a pair of offensive boards.
Ben Gregg finally scored in traffic against the four-man Aztecs, was fouled and made the free throw to push the margin to 11. It was Magoon Gwath’s fifth foul, and the Aztecs’ tallest player and rim protector (five blocks) went to the bench for good.
“That’s like a back-breaker right there,” Gonzaga guard Ryan Nembhard said. “It just kind of takes all the energy out of them.”
SDSU guard Nick Boyd: “We couldn’t get over the hump. We cut it to eight, nine, and we’d give up a rebound. As a team that just got together, we have to learn how to get over those humps and we have to learn fast.”
They do because next on the schedule is No. 14 Creighton in the opener of the eight-team Players Era Festival in Las Vegas. Followed a day later by 4-0 Oregon.
Followed three days later by another power conference team in the crossover game.
Followed a week later by the conference opener on the road at Fresno State.
Boyd, the Florida Atlantic transfer, led the Aztecs with 23 points on just 10 shots while grabbing nine rebounds and drawing nine fouls at 6-foot-3. Sophomore backcourt mate BJ Davis added 15 points, but two starters had goose eggs, and the bench managed only 20 points in a combined 81 minutes.
The game couldn’t have opened better for the Aztecs. Byrd started a week after injuring an ankle in practice a week earlier. And Graham Ike, Gonzaga’s load of a left-handed post, had two fouls after 75 seconds and went to the bench.
The whistles kept coming. The Zags had five team fouls in the opening four minutes and seven – putting the Aztecs in the bonus – with 13:37 left. But they couldn’t capitalize, shooting nine fewer free throws than the visitors in the first half.
For the game, Gonzaga was 27 of 31 to SDSU’s 13 of 18.
And then Ike got going, scoring 20 of his 23 after intermission. He also got Gwath his third and fourth fouls early in the second half as the Aztecs opted to play him straight up instead of doubling for fear of Gonzaga’s 3-point shooting prowess.
“It feels good,” said Ike, who was 0-5 against SDSU, four at Wyoming and last year’s 84-74 defeat at Gonzaga. “The first win of my career against these guys. It’s a feeling I hadn’t felt before.”
An even bigger factor was Nembhard, a wizard off ball screens who controlled the game from tip to buzzer with 19 points and 10 assists (which, crazy as it sounds, is his average) in 37½ minutes.
Said Dutcher: “Ike did a good job in the post, but Nembhard fed him. Ike should take Nembhard out to dinner every night, as easy as he makes his life sometimes. He makes everybody’s life easy.”
Notable
Byrd and Compton both suffered from leg cramps in the second half. Byrd started the second half, subbed out with 13:05 to go and didn’t return. Compton didn’t play the final 8:45 … Gonzaga built its lead midway through the first half when the Aztecs had a 2 of 15 shooting drought … At one point, the Aztecs had three freshmen and a sophomore who barely played last season on the floor together … Dutcher is now 14-11 against AP top 25 opponents … Gonzaga has a 172-game win streak when leading by double digits at the half but was only ahead 40-31 on Monday … The Zags had a modest 12-10 edge on the offensive boards but a 14-5 advantage in second-chance points … SDSU outshot the visitors behind the 3-point arc, 32% (8 of 25) to 25% (5 of 20).
