 "Photo: Glenn Connelly / Photo Editor")
It’s not often that a college basketball game is over in the first five minutes, but on Saturday, when the San Diego State men’s basketball team faced off against Northern Arizona, by the time five minutes had elapsed, SDSU was leading 13-2 and it was clear that NAU was severely outmatched.
The Aztecs (4-2) coasted to an 89-48 win against the Lumberjacks (2-3) behind a shooting percentage of 56.3 and double-digit points by six SDSU players.
“I told our squad after the game that sometimes in a lopsided victory you don’t have as quite as good a feeling as the fans do with the things you see,” head coach Steve Fisher said after the game. “But today I thought we probably did as good a job as we’ve done all season playing half-court defense. We did not give (NAU) dribble drives and we helped better (defensively). They didn’t make many shots, but I thought we contested a vast majority of them and did not give them anything close.”
Leading the Aztecs was junior forward Malcolm Thomas who had a game-high 21 points on an incredible 10-11 shooting performance and tied freshman forward Kawhi Leonard for the most rebounds in the game with 10. Thomas also dished out three assists and recorded a block.
“It wasn’t easy at all. (NAU) made it hard to get the ball, rebound or do anything,” Thomas said. “They have some good players. When they double-teamed, we were able to cut and throw it up high to one of our wings. We also finished almost everything today.”
Saturday’s game is the third home blowout SDSU has won this year in its three home games. However, the Aztecs have struggled on the road, getting routed by Saint Mary’s, edging out Fresno State and, most recently, losing at Pacific.
“The Pacific loss (on Wednesday) was a rude awakening for us,” Thomas said. “We thought we were playing better, but they came out and just smashed us. We had a good practice and it showed in the game today. We watched a lot of film on the (Pacific) game. We didn’t get back in transition defense, we didn’t help each other and we just didn’t run. Defense was the main key for us today.”
True freshman guard Chase Tapley had the best game of his young career, scoring 11 points on 5-7 shooting while racking up five assists. While Tapley’s physical ability is obvious, his coach believes it’s his superior attitude that will make him an impact-player in the coming years.
“Chase is as willing a young freshman as we’ve had in my 11 years here,” Fisher said. “I love Chase. He’s a ‘yes sir’, ‘no sir’, no excuses, looks-you-in-the-eyes guy who accepts his responsibility — maybe even more than he needs to. I believe he will be somebody that our fans will grow to love and he will progress as a basketball player over his career.”
SDSU returns to action on Wednesday when it heads west on Interstate 8 to take on crosstown rival USD at 7 p.m. at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
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