Malcolm Thomas slams home two of his 20 points/(619 Sports photo/David Olender)
Each year, head coach Chris Carlson has started his season at UCSD by challenging the big boys down the road on Montezuma Mesa. It’s an opportunity for the Division II Tritons to step up their level of competition, while giving the D-I Aztecs a chance to knock off the rust and start the year with a win. And usually, the Tritons keep it close for a half.
The script played out to form Saturday afternoon in front of 5,520 fans at Viejas Arena. The Aztecs led the Tritons just 31-28 at the half before stifling them out of the locker room, opening the second half on a 16-0 run which led to a comfortable 77-52 victory.
Steve Fisher’s team is going to be a work in progress this year, but he has some impressive tools to work with, and more on the mend. With Billy White (wrist), Tyrone Shelley (foot) and Tim Shelton (knee) all sidelined by injury, the scoring load went to Malcolm Thomas and Brian Carlwell, two junior transfers who were making their SDSU debuts. Thomas scored 13 of his 20 points in the second half and added a game-high 9 rebounds. Carlwell added 9 points, 5 rebounds, a blocked shot and two steals.
Fisher deemed it a good start against an always determined opponent in UCSD:
UCSD head coach Chris Carlson thought the Tritons learned a lot in the matchup:
Kelvin Davis steals the ball from UCSD's Jordan Lawley/(619 Sports photo/David Olender)
Limiting UCSD runs and creating runs of their own was the gameplan written out on the whiteboard for the Aztecs in their locker room on Saturday morning. Fisher was pleased with the way the SDSU defense made their 16-0 run possible opening up the second half:
Both teams came into their first game knowing that this would be a season filled with transition and promise. Of the nine players who saw action for State, only one, D.J. Gay, was a part of the regular rotation last year. And while Gay may be the veteran of the bunch, he is trying to adjust to a switch from shooting guard to point guard.
D.J. talked about the hard work he put in over the summer to refine his skills on the ball:
Gay’s numbers were unspectacular on Saturday (5 points, 4 assists, 2 steals, 5 turnovers), but coach Fisher said his play was better than the stat line suggested:
Already, D.J.’s leadership on the court is being felt by some. Malcolm Thomas admitted to nerves in his first SDSU start, saying he had never played in front of as big a crowd as he saw on Saturday. Thomas leaned on Gay for support and guidance during the game:
Thomas looks like the proverbial puppy with big paws out on the court. At 6′10″ with long arms, Thomas has an NBA frame but still plays a little bit smaller than he could on the court. He asserted himself impressively after halftime, slamming home an alley-oop in the play of the day for SDSU.
I asked Malcolm after the game if he still feels like he is growing into his body:
Brian Carlwell goes up strong for the Aztecs/(619 Sports photo-David Olender)
One of the more impressive debuts of the day came from 6′11″ center Brian Carlwell, who sat out last year after transferring from Illinois. Weighing in at a listed 297 pounds, Carlwell brings legitimate beef and post presence to an SDSU team that has lacked a true back-to-the-basket big man for years.
Fisher talked about what his big man brings to the Aztecs, particularly on the defensive end of the court:
Kawhi Leonard was held to 8 points in his Aztecs debut/(619 Sports-David Olender)
Saturday also featured the debut of Aztecs’ freshman forward Kawhi Leonard, the California Mr. Basketball for 2008. Leonard showed only glimpses of brilliance in his 28 minutes, scoring 8 points with 8 rebounds and 3 assists, but 6 turnovers. Leonard was able to glide to the basket at times with ease but often deferred to the pass, and was called for a number of offensive fouls.
The Tritons, meanwhile, were bedeviled by poor shooting from outside. In the first half UCSD had several very makeable looks which were off target. Jordan Lawley, the leading returning scorer (18 ppg) from last year, fired up an airball from three point range and shot just 4-11 on the game for 9 points. Tyler Acevedo led the Tritons with 14 points but did so on 5-17 shooting, including 4-15 from three-point range.
Coach Carlson knew it would be a tough matchup for UCSD, and thinks the Mountain West conference will have their hands full with the Aztecs this year:
Both teams now return to their divergent paths. The Aztecs will travel to Moraga on Monday to battle St. Mary’s in an 11pm ESPN game, while UCSD travels to Pueblo, Colorado to battle Western State and Colorado State-Pueblo next weekend.
AZTEC NOTES: Tyrone Shelley was wearing a protective boot on his foot during the game on Saturday and did not dress. Coach Fisher talked about the lingering foot injury for his outside scorer:
The Aztecs were a disappointing 10-20 from the free-throw line…Chase Tapley led the Aztecs off the bench with 11 points, three rebounds and three assists in 25 minutes of play…
