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San Diego State vs. Texas Southern: Aztecs Cruise To An Easy Win
Aztecs remain undefeated.
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Final test before San Diego State heads to Maui
Texas Southern beat Baylor in Waco, Texas, and held Iowa State close in Ames, Iowa, but their legs were just too tired to muster much effort against the San Diego State Aztecs at Viejas Arena. Reminiscent of their loss to Gonzaga in Spokane, Washington, the Tigers got dragged all over the floor by San Diego State in what was a 103-64 victory for the home team.
The Aztecs were explosive on offense for forty minutes last night as they jumped out to a big lead early and never looked back. San Diego State jumped out to a 19-5 lead and after that, the game was never in doubt as both teams went into the locker room. At the half, San Diego State led by 21 points, 49-28.
The second half was more of the same as the Aztecs extended their lead up to 40 points in the back half of the game, finishing with a 39 point win. San Diego State played a complete game on both ends of the court, leading to a dominating performance and victory.
Sophomore Matt Mitchell led six different Aztecs in double-digit points with 21 of his own to go along with five rebounds. Most importantly for Mitchell was that he only had one turnover after averaging 5 per game in the exhibition and opening game.
Fellow sophomore Jordan Schakel had 16 points, seven rebounds, and monster block on 7-2 Texas Southern center Trayvon Reed. Schakel was uber-efficient as he shot 75% from the field, including 3-3 from beyond the arc, and went a perfect 7-7 from the charity stripe.
Jalen McDaniels and Devin Watson both missed out on near double-doubles as McDaniels went for 14 points and nine rebounds, while Watson had 14 points and eight assists. Freshman Nathan Mensah had an eye-opening first half with 11 points and five rebounds and Jeremy Hemsley continued his solid play with 10 points.
Jeremy Combs and Derrick Bruce each had 15 points for the Tigers to lead them in scoring. Reed, Texas Southern’s double-double machine was held in check by the Aztec bigs and foul trouble. He finished with seven points and six rebounds before fouling out midway through the second half. When on the floor he was hardly efficient as he shot 3-11 from the field and 1-3 from the free throw line.
The Aztecs next game is against the number one team in the nation, Duke, at the Maui Invitational. San Diego State will face the Blue Devils on Monday at 2 pm PT in the first round game of the tournament.
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