SAN DIEGO — If you want to understand the difference in length, speed and athleticism between Division I and III college basketball, ask John Higgins.
He happened to be the trail official when an Occidental College guard, worried about the extended arms of a San Diego State defender, fired a pass too wide and Higgins had to duck to keep it from hitting him.
A couple minutes later, same spot on the sideline, same thing. Higgins shrugged and smiled.
The No. 24 Aztecs needed a bit of comic relief, though, a chance to catch their breath, a chance to relax, after a grueling three weeks to the season with what ESPN rates the nation’s seventh most difficult schedule, with 5,972 air miles already logged, with a double-digit comeback, an overtime loss and a last-second win. And they got that.
Final score: 95-57.
It wasn’t as impressive as the score indicates. Two weeks ago, this same Oxy team lost 106-30 against UC Riverside, which is 171 in the Kenpom metric (or 147 spots below the Aztecs).
Take Oxy’s first possession, a missed shot that led to a long rebound that no SDSU players made much of an effort to chase, allowing 6-foot-1 guard Sydney Shipp to snatch it and make a reverse layup for a 2-0 lead.
Three minutes into the game, the Tigers led 5-3. With seven minutes left in the first half, they trailed by only 11. At intermission, they already were within a point of their entire 40-minute output against UC Riverside. Over the final 15 minutes, they outscored their Div. I hosts 24-23 – hitting deep 3s, getting backdoor cuts for layups, getting a steal and breakaway layup.
(Insert your angry SDSU coach lectures here.)
Still, the game did serve some positive purposes.
Perhaps most importantly, it helped a team struggling behind the 3-point arc to see the net dance. The Aztecs made 13 in the first half alone – three more than any full game this season – and finished with 19, their most since at least 1996-97 (the school’s verifiable records don’t go back further).
The 19 also tied the all-time Viejas Arena record, which was held, of all teams, by Troy. The Trojans, it turns out, will get a chance at redemption. They’re the Aztecs’ next opponent, here Monday night.
Adam Seiko was biggest beneficiary of the shooting surge, making five 3s and already surpassing his career scoring high with 17 points just 15 minutes into the game. He finished with six 3s and 20 points.
Micah Parrish was the only other person in double figures with 14 (Matt Bradley and Lamont Butler each had nine), but there was no need when 12 players scored and eight had six or more points.
Other positives: It gave the Aztecs a chance to spend extended time working against a zone, something they haven’t seen much this season but figure to. And it gave them a chance to rest.
Starting point guard Darrion Trammell sat out with a slight hamstring tweak, although he likely would have played against a Div. I opponent. So did oft-injured Aguek Arop for what amounted to an NBA-style load management. Butler almost was a late scratch as well, suffering flu-like symptoms and only deciding to go minutes before tip-off.
That pushed Parrish, the savior of Tuesday’s 72-69 win against UC Irvine, into the starting lineup and bumped everyone up a notch in the rotation. Redshirt freshman Demarshay Johnson Jr. and true freshmen Elijah Saunders and Miles Byrd all got first-half minutes.
Byrd’s return seemed promising after a scary incident in Maui the day before the Aztecs’ first game, when he collapsed at practice grabbing his Achilles tendon. It was diagnosed as a strain, and Byrd received full clearance this week.
Less promising: He limped off with 13:59, although he did return later.
As you’d expect, the box score was filled with lopsided numbers. The Aztecs had a 19-2 advantage in second-chance points and 51-23 in bench scoring. The Tigers had 17 turnovers that were converted in 15 SDSU points.
Aiden Williams made four 3s and led Oxy with 14 points. Nicky Clotfelter, a freshman from the Bishop’s School, had seven points in nine minutes.
