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San Diego State Easily Defeat San Jose State, 84-56
Shorthanded, no problem for San Diego State against San Jose State
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Aztecs comfortably beat the Spartans at Viejas Arena.
With Adam Seiko and Aguek Arop both out with illnesses, the San Diego State Aztecs gave their entire bench extended minutes in what ended up being a comfortable win over San Jose State, 84-56.
San Diego State handled the last-place Spartans rather easily, building a 19-9 lead early and never relinquishing it on the way to their victory. San Jose State fought early, but they lacked the bench depth to keep up.
Offensively the Aztecs started out hot, shooting 51.6% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc. By halftime the Aztecs had two players in double figures, Jalen McDaniels and Jeremy Hemsley each had 11, and a 41-29 lead.
In the second half, the Spartans lack of depth wore on them and the Aztecs were able to pull away. On the other hand, the Aztecs were able to dive deep into their bench and spread the points around, especially with Seiko and Arop unavailable. Joel Mensah saw first-half minutes, which he had not seen in a while, and Ed Chang came into the game way earlier than when he usually does. In the second half, the Aztecs outscored the Spartans 43-27, pushing the final score to 84-56.
Hemsley led the Aztecs in scoring with 15 points and six assists. Freshman Nathan Mensah recorded his second double-double of the season (13 points and 11 rebounds), while McDaniels finished one rebound shy of his own (13 points and nine rebounds). Devin Watson and Jordan Schakel both hit four three-pointers en route to 12 points.
Zach Chappell led the Spartans in scoring with 14 points. Michael Steadman recorded a double-double of his own with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Seneca Knight rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12 points of his own.
The Aztecs hot shooting masked a lot of issues that were not indicative of the score. Even though they won by 28, the Aztecs only outrebounded the Spartans by two (41-39) and turned the ball over only three times less than the San Jose State (12-15).
The Aztecs play Fresno State on Wednesday in hopes of securing the three seed in the Mountain West tournament. San Jose State finishes their season against Wyoming at home on Wednesday.
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