{"id":123128,"date":"2024-11-07T15:19:52","date_gmt":"2024-11-07T08:19:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=123128"},"modified":"2024-11-07T15:19:52","modified_gmt":"2024-11-07T08:19:52","slug":"aztecs-rally-late-beat-uc-san-diego-in-season-opener-san-diego-union-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=123128","title":{"rendered":"Aztecs rally late, beat UC San Diego in season opener \u2013 San Diego Union-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>San Diego State unveiled a Sweet 16 banner Wednesday night at Viejas Arena against a school playing its first game as a full-fledged Division I member.<\/p>\n<p>The Aztecs have some work to do to hang another one.<\/p>\n<p>A year after trailing by 14 inside seven minutes to go and winning on a put-back at the buzzer, SDSU tempted fate and offered UC San Diego an $80,000 payday to play at Viejas Arena. And nearly got burned.<\/p>\n<p>The Tritons led again with seven minutes to go, although this time by only five points, and the Aztecs needed another furious rally after a disjointed opening 33 minutes to win 63-58 before a soldout (and nervous) crowd in Viejas Arena.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cScheduling is always hard,\u201d coach Brian Dutcher said. \u201cYou always think, well, we\u2019re not going to do this again. Then the dates line up, and it\u2019s a good game for both teams, and you do it. They\u2019ve given us great games the last two years. They\u2019ve had a chance to win both, and we found a way to make enough timely plays to get victories.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Said Tritons guard Tyler McGhie, who had 21 points: \u201cWe worked all summer and all fall for this. I think we can compete with anyone. At the end of the day, they put their shorts on just like we do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was the season opener for both teams and preserved several prodigious SDSU streaks: 39 straight wins against the current membership of the Big West, 18 straight in openers against unranked opposition, 15 straight in home openers and 15-0 all-time against the Tritons.<\/p>\n<p>But make no mistake: It was a grind.<\/p>\n<p>The Aztecs managed just 24 points in the first half, flummoxed by a Tritons\u2019 matchup zone. They didn\u2019t dominate the offensive boards like you\u2019d expect against a team that played no one taller than 6-foot-8. They stepped out of bounds with the ball (twice). Coach Brian Dutcher was forced to abandon plans to play two bigs and went with four guards down the stretch.<\/p>\n<p>It took a 12-0 run late to energize the increasingly anxious faithful in Viejas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe see it as a league game, honestly,\u201d redshirt sophomore Miles Byrd said. \u201cWe came in today and on the whiteboard in the locker room it says, \u2018Winning is hard.\u2019 We know that. I was on the bench. I saw the energy UCSD brought last year in their arena. You know they were going to come into this game confident. We prepped hard. We respected them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Making his first career start, the 6-7 Byrd had a monster night of stat stuffing: a career-high 20 points, eight rebounds, three assists, five steals, four blocks. According to SDSU media relations, that\u2019s only the second time over the last 10 seasons that a Div. I player has had at least 20 points, eight rebounds, five steals and four blocks in a game.<\/p>\n<p>Florida Atlantic transfer Nick Boyd had four turnovers running the point but made the play of the game at the other end, drawing a charge on UCSD\u2019s Chris Howell with 49.9 seconds left in a four-point game.<\/p>\n<p>It capped a dominating defensive stand. UCSD led 50-45, then missed seven of its next nine shots with four turnovers. McGhie was 5 of 5 in the second half \u2026 but didn\u2019t score (or take a shot) over the final 9:59.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was tough,\u201d McGhie said. \u201cI don\u2019t know, I was trying to get open. \u2026 They were throwing different guys on me, so I got worn down a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe momentum in the second half, I feel like it came from our defense,\u201d said Jared Coleman-Jones, SDSU\u2019s lone big on the floor over the closing minutes. \u201cWe had to really turn up our defensive intensity. We just had to change the way we played.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Boyd and BJ Davis each had 11 points, and Coleman-Jones added nine points and nine rebounds as the Aztecs hit the same scoring total as last year against the Tritons.<\/p>\n<p>The Tritons shot 32.8 percent, and that was after being 50 percent overall and 6 of 9 behind the arc in the second half. That tells you how much they struggled in the first half, when they had six shots blocked and shot 18.2 percent.<\/p>\n<p>Even so, they trailed only 24-22 because the Aztecs couldn\u2019t put the ball in the basket, either. A 21-10 lead became a 22-21 deficit with turnovers on their next three possessions, followed by four straight misses, followed by another turnover.<\/p>\n<p>With nine minutes left, the Tritons\u2019 lead was six.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, I liked that a lot better than being down the 14 points with (seven) minutes to go like we were last year,\u201d Dutcher said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t have to come from so far behind. It\u2019s a young team, maybe not age-wise but playing together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The scariest part: Their next four Div. I games are against No. 6 Gonzaga, which just beat No. 8 Baylor by 38; No. 15 Creighton, which scored 99 in its opener Wednesday; Oregon, which received votes in the Associated Press preseason poll; and another power conference school in the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith what\u2019s around the corner, we wanted to desperately win this game,\u201d Dutcher said. \u201cWe\u2019re grateful to get a win. You know what\u2019s ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Notable<\/h4>\n<p>Next up: Div. III Occidental at home on Nov. 12. The game, like Wednesday night\u2019s, will be aired on YurView (Channel 4 on Cox and Spectrum) as well as streamed on the Mountain West Network \u2026 Freshman <strong>Thokbor Majak<\/strong> did not suit up, a strong indication that he\u2019ll redshirt this season. \u201cI don\u2019t have a problem with it,\u201d he said recently. \u2026 The officiating crew: <strong>Michael Irving<\/strong>,<strong> Randy Richardson <\/strong>and<strong> Tommy Nunez<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Aniwanina Tait-Jones<\/strong>, the Big West newcomer of the year last season, finished with 13 points before fouling out. Howell, a Torrey Pines High alum and Saint Mary\u2019s transfer, had nine points in his UCSD debut \u2026 Redshirt freshman <strong>Magoon Gwath<\/strong> had three early blocks but left in the second half with leg cramps and didn\u2019t return. He finished with one point and one rebound in 23 minutes \u2026 The SDSU lineup down the stretch: Boyd, Byrd, Davis, Wayne McKinney and Coleman-Jones. The rotation went 10 deep, although Brown transfer <strong>Kimo Ferrari<\/strong> got only two minutes.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Originally Published: <time datetime=\"2024-11-06 21:12:04\">November 6, 2024 at 9:12 PM PST<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sandiegouniontribune.com\/2024\/11\/06\/aztecs-rally-late-beat-uc-san-diego-in-season-opener\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>San Diego State unveiled a Sweet 16 banner Wednesday night at Viejas Arena against a school playing its first game as a full-fledged Division I member. The Aztecs have some &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=123128\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=123128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123128\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=123128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=123128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=123128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}