3 thoughts: No. 19 SDSU 82, BYU 75 – The San Diego Union-Tribune
Three thoughts on No. 19 San Diego State’s 82-75 win against BYU on Friday night at Viejas Arena:
1. Anatomy of a winning play
Up three with a minute to go, SDSU Aztecs coach Brian Dutcher had point guard Darrion Trammell milk the shot clock and then run a play to get 6-foot-9 Jaedon LeDee the ball at the free throw line. Lamont Butler went to the left corner, Trammell to the left wing and Nathan Mensah to the left block. Matt Bradley parked himself in the right corner.
LeDee drove right against Gideon George, got to the rim, scored and was fouled — 78-73, Aztecs. Game over.
“That’s Coach Dutcher drawing that up,” LeDee said. “That’s the genius behind him. He drew it up, and I just executed the play. (George) kind of got me earlier, so I knew he was going to be waiting on a shot or something. So I quickly ripped (across) him and tried to get to the rim.”
Dutch indeed drew up the play … 11 years ago.
Go back to the Sweet 16 game against UConn in the 2011 NCAA Tournament, to SDSU’s first set play, and you’ll see point guard D.J. Gay bounce a pass to Kawhi Leonard at the top while three teammates cut to the left side and shooter Chase Tapley parks himself in the right corner. Leonard sweeps right, drives and scores for a 4-3 lead.
Dutcher and his staff installed the play before the season opener against Cal State Fullerton on Monday.
“They did a good job denying (LeDee), and Darrion did a good job of finding him in that position to give him an opportunity to attack to the basket,” Dutcher said. “And then we have Matt in the corner. Not many teams will help off Matt. They stay locked in on Matt, so that takes a helper away, and then if they come to help from the post, Nate’s on the back side for a rebound.
“It’s a hard play to guard, if you have good spacing and guys who know how to play.”
Watch Friday night’s version, and BYU’s Jaxson Robinson stunt toward the driving LeDee and quickly return to Bradley in the corner. That tells you the level of respect Bradley commands. He was shooting 3 of 16 … and Robinson still didn’t dare leave him alone.
The other component was LeDee’s unique skill set at 6-9, 240. It explains why Dutcher opted to pull him away from the basket when he had been feasting on the smaller Cougars all night en route to a game-high 23 points.
“Because he’s such a good drive player,” Dutcher said. “He’s one of our better players where, if he’s on the perimeter and he drives the basketball, he always makes the right play.”
2. Rim running
The night’s other game-saving play came 90 seconds earlier, after Trammell fed Nathan Mensah on a wrap-around pass for an easy layup. But as the ball rolled around the rim and dropped, BYU forward Fousseyni Traore sprinted downcourt.
The Cougars pulled the ball out of the net, inbounded and threw ahead to the streaking Traore, like he got behind the safety in football. Traore took off for a dunk, only for Mensah, out of nowhere, to fly in from behind and block it.
“I said, ‘Let me chase him and make a play at the basket,’ ” Mensah said. “That was my guy. I will be held accountable. As you know, Coach Dave (Velasquez) is very detailed about defense. You don’t want to be on the negative side of the chart.”
“The chart” is the defensive stats Velasquez compiles after every game, tracking blocks, steals, tipped passes, rotations and all variety of assignment responsibilities. Mensah holds the unofficial single-game record for defensive “points” and once again was the team’s leader Friday, thanks to four blocks and three steals to go with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
“It was amazing,” LeDee said of the 94-foot scamper. “I went in on the tip as well. And then I saw (Traore), he’s really fast and he was gone. The next thing I see is Nate down there, blocking the dunk. But I’m used to it. I see that in practice many a time, so it wasn’t a surprise to me.”
3. Owls and Anteaters
As if SDSU’s nonconference schedule needed to get any harder …
It opened with a pair of NCAA Tournament teams from last season in Fullerton and BYU, then a road game at a power conference school (Stanford), then three games at a Maui Invitational where five of the eight entrants are ranked.
After that, the schedule is supposed to soften. Or does it?
While the Aztecs were battling the Cougars on Friday, Kennesaw State was playing Florida to a 10-point game in Gainesville, Fla., shooting 53.1 percent in the second half and grabbing 11 offensive boards against the taller Gators. The Owls won the opener 99-56 against Division III LaGrange College and come to Viejas Arena on Dec. 12.
The Aztecs’ first game after Maui is Nov. 29 against UC Irvine, which is no picnic, either.
The Anteaters won 69-56 at No. 21 Oregon on Saturday, the largest margin of defeat by the Ducks in nonconference home game since 2011 (and that was against the ACC’s Virginia).
“We got beat in every facet of the game,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “Hustle, toughness. … Got punched right from the start.”
UC Irvine got 24 points from DJ Davis, a high school teammate of SDSU’s Lamont Butler, and went on an 18-4 run to lead 35-22 at halftime. It extended the margin to 27 in the second half while logging its first regular-season win against a ranked team in 21 years.
“Give them credit for taking this game,” UCI coach Russell Turner said of the one-off arrangement where Oregon paid them high five figures to play in Eugene. “It was a big deal for us to get an opportunity to come in here and play. This was a heck of an opportunity for us to play a team of their quality. We don’t take this for granted.”
They’ll get another opportunity Nov. 29.