For San Diego State basketball — both men and women — Saturday was the moment of truth. Win and stay in the hunt for conference titles. Lose and find themselves wandering around in the middle of the pack.
The Aztec men went to Fort Collins, Colo., and defeated Colorado State, 64-52, with junior point guard D.J. Gay scoring 17 points and controlling the game in the second half as SDSU built and then maintained a double-digit lead. The Aztec women beat CSU at home, 59-38, getting 19 points from senior guard Jene Morris and using a 21-3 second-half run to break open tight game.
Consider Mountain West Conference titles still a possibility.
“Our kids dug in and played a very solid game,” Aztec women’s coach Beth Burns said. “It wasn’t always pretty, but when we play with energy and intensity we’re going to be tough to beat. I liked the way we stuck with it even when things weren’t going so well.”
Both Aztec teams won by focusing on the “D” in SDSU. Burns’ team limited CSU to 27-percent shooting, forced 35 turnovers and held the Rams without a field goal for a 10:24 stretch of the second half. The 35 turnovers was the most committed by any MWC team this season.
On the men’s side, SDSU closed the first half with a 12-1 run over the final 3:10 to take an eight-point halftime lead and never let CSU get any closer in the second half. The Rams shot just 36.7-percent from the field and were harrassed into 19 turnovers.
Defense has been the calling card for both teams this season. And though both the men and women have struggled at the offensive end for stretches, it has been the ability to defend that has kept both teams in the championship hunt.
Steve Fisher’s men’s team is now 15-6 overall and 4-3 in MWC play. BYU still leads the conference at 6-1, followed by New Mexico at 6-2 and UNLV at 5-2. A loss Saturday would have dropped the Aztecs three games back of BYU and into fifth-place.
Burns’ women are 13-6 overall and 5-2 in conference, now tied for the MWC top spot with TCU and BYU. The Aztec ladies have lost to both of the teams they share first place with, but will get both teams at home in the second half of the conference season.
SDSU has now won 14-straight conference games at home, after Morris scored five hoops during a second-half surge that saw CSU go more than 10 minutes without a hoop. Leading by only 29-25 with 14:01 left, the Aztecs’ 21-3 run blew open the margin to 50-28 with 3:27 remaining.
“Sometimes when our shots aren’t falling we get a little lazy getting back on defense,” said Burns, whose team had lost two of its previous three games in part due to poor transition defense. “Our kids have to remember that they either get an offensive board, or they get back. In this game, they did a very good job.”
Junior power forward Jessika Bradley contributed in all areas, scoring eight points, grabbing seven rebounds, making four steals and blocking three shots as SDSU beat CSU for the fifth-consecutive time.
Meanwhile, the men parlayed the play of Gay and their two precocious freshmen, Kawhi Leonard and Chase Tapley, into ninth-consecutive victory over the Rams. Leonard had a double-double by halftime and finished with 14 points and 12 boards. Tapley scored 12, including seven during SDSU’s game-changing 12-1 run to end the first half.
Forward Malcolm Thomas was limited to five points, but grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds as the Aztecs enjoyed a 40-33 advantage on the boards. SDSU built a 17-point lead late in the contest then hung on comfortably despite hitting on only 18-of-33 free throws.
“No matter who you play in this conference on the road, you have to be happy when you play well and get out of town with a win,” said Fisher, whose club has won two straight on the road sandwiched around a heart-breaking 71-69 loss to BYU at home last Saturday.
The women also lost last Saturday to BYU (in Provo, Utah.), allowing a bundle of transitions baskets and 73 points in all. Colorado State, on the other hand, was barely able to get half that many as the Aztecs got back on defense and dominated in the half-court.
Next up for the two squads is Air Force, whose hoop teams have combined for only one victory (by the Falcon men on Saturday over Wyoming. Fisher’s team will host Air Force on Tuesday, while Burns’ group will visit Colorado Springs, Colo., on Wednesday.
In both instances, championship dreams — thanks to the “D” — still exist.
– Ello –
