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San Diego State returned to practice this week at Viejas Arena, where on Saturday it blew an 18-point lead and lost 67-66 against Utah State that bumped it from the ranks of the ranked.
The Aztecs worked on offense, of course, after scoring just 23 points in the second half and shooting 0 for 11 behind the 3-point arc. But they also spent time on the basics of free-throw blockouts and nearly 30 minutes on baseline out-of-bounds defense.
“Everyday things,” coach Brian Dutcher said of a team with six freshmen or sophomores in a nine-man rotation. “We have to devote more time to it. In the past, we had teams that had been together so long that they just knew how to do it. With this team, it’s like, everything you’re not good at, you have to spend time at, and there’s never enough time to do everything.
“And there’s such a fine line between winning and losing.”
With 6:20 left in a two-point game, Utah State forward Aubin Gateretse was at the line for the second of two free throws. The Aggies had only one player along the lane instead of the allotted two against SDSU’s full complement of four players.
Gateretse missed, and BJ Davis and Magoon Gwath, on the right side of the lane, failed to pinch off Utah State’s Tucker Anderson. The ball bounced into the middle of the lane, and Davis poked it from Anderson’s hands out of bounds.
On the ensuing baseline inbounds play, Mason Falslev got free under the basket for a layup and the Aggies’ first lead of the game.
The latter transgression is a gut punch. In the 2022-23 season, the Aztecs ranked No. 1 nationally according to one metric in fewest points allowed off baseline inbounds, or BLOB in coachspeak. They didn’t allow a quick basket off an inbounds play until the 16th game.
Against Utah State, it happened twice in five minutes – four points in what would be a one-point game.
“The thing I was most unpleased with was our out-of-bounds defense, which we’re usually good at,” Dutcher said. “We gave up two layups. We weren’t where we were supposed to be guarding the inbounder. (Falslev) scored both where we were supposed to be standing. And then a free-throw box out where they have one guy on the lane and we don’t pinch. Those are the things I can really hold them accountable for.”
No timeout
When Anderson drained a 3 with 6.8 seconds left to put the Aggies ahead, Dutcher took a couple steps onto the court and signaled for a timeout.
He never got it.
“I was obviously trying to signal to Nick (Boyd) at the far end, trying to signal to the officials,” Dutcher said. “Why I didn’t get it, I don’t know.”
Boyd not seeing him, he chalked up to a new team that had not yet been in this situation. The officials not seeing him, good question.
They are trained to peek at the head coach in anticipation of a timeout; none of the three did.
“Officials are no different than players: they’re caught up in the moment,” Dutcher said. “As much they train for a situation, it’s an emotional 3, they’re watching everything to see: Was it a 3? What’s the time? Did the clock stop? They have a lot of stuff going through their minds, too, so I don’t want to put it on them.
“Obviously, they’re probably trained to look at the coach. I called timeout. I didn’t get it. That’s what happens.”
Rankings plunge
It probably wasn’t a surprise that SDSU fell from The Associated Press top 25 after losing at home against an unranked team.
But 15 spots?
The Aztecs are now 10th among others receiving votes, or de facto No. 35 overall.
A week earlier, they appeared on 47 of 62 media ballots. A one-point loss against a 12-1 team, and only five voters still picked them — one each at Nos. 15, 17 and 22, and three at No. 25. The other 56 did not.
The slide wasn’t as steep in the USA Today coaches poll, where the Aztecs were also No. 20 and dropped 12 spots.
In the latest projected bracket by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, SDSU slipped from a No. 9 seed to a 10. Utah State is the only other team currently in his field, jumping from a 10 to a 7 seed.
Heat signs Johnson
SDSU alum Keshad Johnson is officially an NBA player after the Miami Heat converted his two-way deal into a full, two-year NBA contract. In 13 games with the G League’s Sioux Falls Skyforce, the Heat’s G League affiliate, the 6-foot-7 rookie averaged 21.2 points and 8.2 rebounds while shooting 54.9% overall and 39.6% from 3.
Johnson, who played four years at SDSU and a fifth at Arizona, had back-to-back 30-point games in late November and was named G League Player of the Week.
“KJ has been playing a lot of different roles for us there (with Sioux Falls), playing at the 4, a speed 5, switching,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told media in Miami. “He is also playing base coverages. He is doing things in a role that could also be transferrable to our team. We feel really good about his development and making this move to continue this relationship.”
Aztecs in the pros
In Europe: Nathan Mensah had 12 points and seven rebounds in his debut with Greece’s Olympiacos, an 87-77 win against Lavrio. … Matt Mitchell had a season-high 12 points for Lithuania’s Zalgiris Kaunas on Sunday. Zalgiris hosts Olympiacos on Thursday in the EuroLeague, the continent’s top club competition. … Trey Pulliam is averaging 11.3 points and 4.4 assists for APOEL Nicosia of Cyprus.
In the G League: Jaedon LeDee had a season-high 13 points and made the winning 3 from the left corner in a 126-122 overtime win for the Iowa Wolves against the Mexico City Capitanes. … Jordan Schakel is averaging 9.4 points for the Maine Celtics. … Malachi Flynn is 13th in the G League in scoring, averaging 22.5 points per game for the Austin Spurs.
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