SAN DIEGO — If you're looking for a single moment that defined San Diego State's torrid first half against UNLV on Saturday afternoon, that illustrated its sheer dominance against a (supposed) rival, that shows what kind of roll the Aztecs are on, you'd wind the tape to the 10:13 mark.
Keshad Johnson had just made one of two free throws following a UNLV flagrant foul, and now the Aztecs had the ball. Johnson got it inside and lost it, watching it roll along the floor through several Rebels players … to Lamont Butler.
Who slashed down the lane and threw down a rim-shaking, soul-altering, one-handed dunk.
It was that kind of day, that kind of dominance, that kind of effort and energy and electricity.
The No. 25 Aztecs led by 20 at the half and cruised to an 82-71 victory at Viejas Arena in front of a national Fox television audience that, for once, didn't have to stay awake into the wee hours of the morning on the East Coast to see them.
It was their 20th win of the season, which they've now had in all six of Brian Dutcher's years as head coach and in 17 of the last 18 seasons overall. And the one time they didn't, in 2016-17, they won 19.
It improved their Mountain West record to 11-2 with five games remaining in what increasingly looks like a three-team race with 10-3 Nevada and 8-3 Boise State. It also makes it wins in 10 of the last 11 against UNLV and 21 of 23 in a series that started with a 26-6 Rebels advantage.
The script was similar to SDSU's recent games — take a big first-half lead — with one notable exception: The obligatory second-half swoon didn't materialize until garbage time, when the outcome was long since decided.
The only drama was whether the Rebels (16-9, 5-8) would cover the nine-point spread after trailing by 23 inside eight minutes to go, qualifying as a "bad beat" for bettors. They came close, getting to 11 with 45 seconds left and two UNLV shots that didn't go in to keep the final margin there.
On Wednesday at Utah State, the Aztecs led by 16 at intermission and won by two after making no baskets over the final 5 1/2 minutes. On Saturday, UNLV closed from 20 to 14 … and the Aztecs quickly pushed it back to 22.
But they didn't need to play any defense in the second half the way they played in the first, following their 44-point effort at Utah State with 43 on Saturday.
The Rebels had (we're not making this up) zero assists until two minutes into the second half, and that's because it's really hard to get assists when you don't make baskets. And the Rebels made none over the final 8:45 of the first half and one over the final 12:45.
The Aztecs had dunks on their first two possessions and six by halftime.
Johnson had nine points, including a 3-pointer, before the first media timeout.
Darrion Trammell, all 5-foot-9 of him, had two blocks.
On and on it went. Adam Seiko made six 3s, the third time he's made five or more this season, for a team-high 18 points. Nathan Mensah had his second double-double (11 points, 11 rebounds) of the season. Matt Bradley had 17 points on just eight shots. Butler had seven points and seven assists.
The Aztecs had 18 offensive rebounds and won the battle of the boards 42-23. The Rebels shot 40.7% for the game even after a 53.3% first half and were 6 of 22 behind the arc.
Notable
— Next up: at Fresno State on Wednesday at 8 p.m., followed by the second bye of the conference season … There was an emotional halftime tribute — for Dr. Jim Kitchen, SDSU's longtime vice president of student affairs who died over the summer and was a big behind-the-scenes supporter of the basketball program. Former coach Steve Fisher spoke in the center court ceremony that included President Adela de la Torre and Athletic Director John David Wicker …
One of the Fox commentators was Casey Jacobsen, whose father, Von, played at SDSU in the late 1960s and ranks 20th on the school's career scoring list with 1,188 points … UNLV's Keshon Gilbert and SDSU's Aguek Arop were both called for flagrant fouls in separate first-half incidents after video reviews … Jaedon LeDee was whistled for a flop late in the game … EJ Harkless led UNLV with 24 points before fouling out. Gilbert had 19 … Trammell did not score for the first time in three Division I seasons.
