Balanced Aztecs run away from Lamar behind 51-point first half

Why play defense when you can just outscore people?

That appears to be the new normal for San Diego State’s basketball team, so steeped in defensive history and suddenly better at accumulating points than preventing them.

Or so Lamar, a defensive-oriented program, found out Wednesday night at Viejas Arena in an 89-71 Aztecs win that featured 51 first-half points from a variety of methods – dunks, layups, bank shots, mid-range jumpers, 3s, free throws, lots of free throws.

That a team ranking near the bottom of Division I in made 3s per game rained a season-high 14 on the Aztecs – 10 in the first half alone – doesn’t matter when you can just go to other end of the floor and make one yourself.

“To give up 41 and still have a 10-point (halftime) lead is pretty good,” coach Brian Dutcher said.

Lamar entered the night ranked 13th nationally in scoring defense, allowing a mere 62.6 points per game and only 57, 55 and 46 in their last three.

The Aztecs had 63 with 14:38 still to go.

Told the Cardinals were statistically one of college basketball’s best defensive teams, coach Alvin Brooks quipped:

“Yeah, we weren’t tonight, bro.”

He added: “It’s not shocking because they’ve got a really good team. They’ve got a tournament team. Brian does a great job. They play the right way offensively and they’ve got so many weapons, it’s hard to key on just a few guys.

“We gave up too many paint points, late in the rotation, but you’ve got to give them credit. They attacked us the way that you should. It was a good game for us because we won’t see another team that good offensively. You know, usually people have one, just a couple of guys, (and) we can take them out. But they’ve got multiple guys.”

All 11 players in the rotation scored at least three points on a night when they shot 48.3% overall, were 8 of 18 behind the arc and attempted 31 free throws.

Six guys had at least eight points, led by 19 from a resurgent Miles Byrd to go with five rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks after a scoring goose egg last week against Utah Valley while battling the flu.

BJ Davis had 16 points off the bench, his sixth straight game in double figures. Magoon Gwath had 10 points, six rebounds and two blocks. Reese Waters had nine points in a season-low 22 minutes. Sean Newman Jr. and Pharaoh Compton had eight each, also off the bench.

“Our mentality is always going to be the same: defense and rebounding,” Byrd said. “If we run into a night where we’re not hitting shots, we still have to keep them under a certain amount of points. I think we have the talent and the team to do that.

“But also, 89 points, tip your cap to the scorers.”

Added Dutcher: “When we get rolling offensively, it’s fun. We play the right way. We share the ball.”

The game didn’t help their metrics. The Aztecs started the night at No. 45 in Kenpom, were projected to win by 19, won by 17 and fell two spots to No. 47.

But it did help with overall confidence and mojo, seeing Byrd look more like an NBA prospect as well as a more aggressive effort from a heretofore tentative Gwath.

SDSU is now 5-3 entering the Mountain West opener here next Wednesday against struggling Air Force, followed three days later by the opposite end of the spectrum: No. 1 Arizona in Phoenix.

“We still feel like we have to be really good defensively if we’re going to win the way we want to win,” Dutcher said. “We took a step in the right direction. We played harder longer, stayed in a stance, concentrated more, held each other accountable. Even though they were playing well, I thought our defense was better than it’s been in the previous games.”

The Cardinals (5-4) shot only 36.2% overall, made eight fewer free throws, had 18 turnovers and were outscored 38-10 in the paint. They compensated with basketball’s great equalizer, the 3-point shot.

They were averaging only 6.5 treys per game while shooting 32.1% behind the arc, which ranked 295th and 242nd in the nation, respectively.

So what happens?

They had already seven 3s with nearly nine minutes left in the first half. They went without a 2-point basket for the opening 13 minutes and went to the locker room shooting 45.5% behind the arc (10 of 22) … and 18.2% (2 of 11) inside it.

They finally regressed to the mean in the second half (4 of 13), allowing the Aztecs to expand the lead to 22 at its widest.

“We scouted them as a great mid-range team, a lot of fast guards who can get downhill,” Byrd said. “Then they come in here and hit 10 3s in the first half. Obviously, that’s a punch in the mouth. But as a team, we take pride in next-play mentality and not dropping our head. It’s a credit to our team for pushing through their runs and their punch-backs and continuing to play how we play.”

Which, this season, means punching back at the other end of the floor.

Notable

It was SDSU’s third 50-point half of the season. The others came against Troy and Oregon. The last time it has had that many was four in 2020-21 … The bench had another big night, following its 59-point performance against Utah Valley with 44 against Lamar. It’s the fifth time in eight games the bench had scored at least 40 … The Aztecs are 112-12 in their last 124 nonconference home games … The student section wasn’t full, although that might have something to do with the start of final exams …

Rob Lee Jr. led the visitors with 21 points behind 5 of 10 shooting on 3s … Miles Heide (hip) and Taj DeGourville (wrist) both played despite missing practices with injuries. Heide had special padding and started. DeGourville came off the bench but was not wearing the brace from practice … A visibly agitated DeGourville went to the locker room in the second half after being subbed for a defensive miscue, then returned wearing the No. 35 jersey instead of his usual No. 24 … Lamar challenged an out-of-bounds call with 3:46 left that was upheld after video review.