3 thoughts: SDSU 74, Wyoming 57 … the turning point, a sports psychologist and butter knives

LARAMIE, Wyo. – Three thoughts on San Diego State’s 74-57 win at Wyoming on Wednesday night:

1. The turning point

In the quiet of the locker room after losing to No. 1 Arizona, coach Brian Dutcher had this message for this team:

“We’re playing better. We played better this game. As disappointing as it is to lose, we’re trending in the right direction.”

Prescient words, especially coming amid the carnage of a 23-point loss.

Nearly a month later, his team is playing more like people thought it would this season. Wednesday’s win at 7,220 feet against a team that was 9-1 and averaging 90.6 points per game at home was its most complete of the season and the first time since the Nov. 4 opener that they put their foot on an opponent’s throat and kept it there.

The Dec. 20 game at Phoenix’s Mortgage Matchup Center, then, proved to be something of a turning point for a team that was still wallowing in self-doubt from the double-overtime loss against Troy a month earlier and had lost touch with the key pillar of its culture: defense.

SDSU led by as many as seven in the first half against the No. 1-ranked Wildcats, ultimately trailing by one but, despite a poor second half, still held them to 68 points and 37.9% shooting, both season lows.

“When we D’ed them up the way we D’ed them,” Dutcher said, “we showed that if we play a high level of defense, we can contain even really good teams.”

The numbers reflect that. Over the first 10 games, opponents had an offensive efficiency rate of 102.3 points per 100 possessions while shooting 42.2%. In the six games since Arizona, that’s down to 91.4 and 34.7%.

The rate that teams are grabbing offensive rebounds has dropped significantly as well, from 30.4% of misses to 23.3%.

That translates to eight fewer points allowed per game. And, of course, six straight wins.

“It really showed us a couple things,” forward Tae Simmons said. “It showed us we can hang with anybody, it doesn’t matter who it is. You saw it. The No. 1 team in the country, we’re down by one going into halftime.

“The second thing it showed is how important it is coming out in the second half. I think we 100% have that game against Arizona if we came out with more intensity in the second half, which we didn’t. … Now we’re taking a step in the right direction to finish games.”

The scoreboard on Dec. 20 said one thing. Dutcher’s eyes told him something else.

“A lot of times, wins and losses don’t dictate how you’re playing,” Dutcher said. “You have to just see it, feel it. I’m starting to feel as if we’re playing better basketball.”

2. Being present

TAP is Reese Dixon-Waters’ new mantra.

The senior guard began working with a sports psychologist recently and adopted the concept of TAP: Trust, Accept, Presence.

“Trusting the work, accepting the outcome and just being present,” he said.

Dixon-Waters has always been a cerebral player, sometimes to a fault. He thinks a lot. He analyzes a lot. He internalizes a lot.

The result often is wild swings in performance, blowing hot and cold. He averaged 14.5 points while shooting 51.2% through his first four games this season, then 7.6 points on 27.5% shooting over his next five.

Wednesday was his sixth straight game in double figures, finishing with 13 points on an efficient 5 of 9 shooting (3 of 5 behind the arc). The Aztecs are 7-2 this season when he hits double figures, 31-12 in his career.

“I noticed my play was kind of slacking those four or five games, and I was, like, I need to get ahold of this,” Dixon-Waters said. “He helps a lot with things that go on in my mind, not really letting me get negative. When I miss a shot, I move on, just trusting the work I’ve put in.

“In the last two games, I’ve really had that mindset … Just staying present, just playing hard and being aggressive and not being timid, knowing I’m the only person who can stop myself.”

Dutcherwelcomes it. Miles Byrd and Magoon Gwath, his two other preseason all-conference selections, have been trending upwards as well after slow starts. Whatever works.

“It’s whatever a guy wants,” Dutcher said. “You can’t force a guy to do anything. But if they see value in it and they feel it helps their performance and helps their stress level or their confidence, then I’m all for it. What used to be something people would be afraid to step up and admit it, now it’s a good thing that when you feel you need help, it’s there for you.

“Kudos to Reese.”

3. Butter knives

The Cowboys are notably improved this season, but the real can’t-miss event comes afterward, when coach Sundance Wicks arrives for his postgame news conference.

He was in rare form Wednesday night, opening with an eight-minute monologue about heart before shifting to dating and butter knives. Some excerpts:

“The Bible says pride comes before the fall. That’s the wrong kind of pride, to be so proud that you’re stubborn and you won’t change. I think we have some of the wrong kind of proud. … The right kind of pride is believing in something greater than yourself, willing to sacrifice what you want for what the team needs when the team needs it. … It’s not about you. It’s about somebody else or something bigger than you.

“So much of this whole we’re doing in this professional got off-track. It’s about the next thing, where I’m playing now so I can go somewhere else versus having pride and staying where your feet are and saying, ‘I put my heels in the ground, I believe in this through and through. You have to scrape and claw and drag me out of here, I love Wyoming so much.’ … I know there’s a name on the back of the jersey. I’m talking about the name on the front and the people who gave you the opportunity.

“That’s what is disappointing to me, the lack of response. It’s like when you’re trying to get your first girlfriend. You’re texting her, and the texts are going really well to start. She responds a lot. Then you take her on a date and she sees you for the first time and maybe she doesn’t think you’re all you’re cracked up to be in your profile. So you text her, and a couple hours go by between texts. You ask her for a second date and she says, ‘I’m busy.’ And maybe you get that second date, but those texts are two and three days in between. She’s ghosting you.

“I feel like our team ghosts us in response sometimes. We show up for a good date and then we’ll be ghosted for a date with San Diego State. We’ll be ghosted for a date against Grand Canyon. We’ll be ghosted for a date against New Mexico. When are we going to show up to the date ready to commit, ready to say: ‘You know what? I kind of like you. I’m here. Let’s make this thing work.’ We’re in a bad dating era right now.

“(SDSU has) what we don’t: pride. It’s a proud program. It’s a championship program … because of the people who have been there and sacrificed and believed in the process that Dutcher puts them through. They don’t run from it. They get other teams’ best players and get them to defend, probably when they didn’t want to defend at the previous place. And they do it because that’s their culture, that’s their standard. And we’re fighting for our damn standard every single day.

“Sometimes you’re just outgunned. Sometimes you’re in a gunfight with a butter knife. I don’t believe we’re a butter knife team but, man, we’ve got some butter knife tendencies right now. We looked like we were ready to fight, we looked all huffy-puffy. And they’re like, ‘You’ve got a butter knife, bro. You’re not going to take us.’

“Everybody else has Uzis, rocket launchers, they’ve got all the stuff. We’ve got butter knives. We had baked potatoes today for pregame (dinner). We had steak knives for the baked potatoes. That’s how soft we are. We need steak knives to cut our baked potato open.”