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There are several ways to know it’s just your team’s night.
You can scan the box score and the shooting percentages, rebounds, turnovers and fouls.
An even more sure-fire method of detection: Banking in not one but two 3-pointers.
BJ Davis banked in one at the halftime buzzer, then Miles Byrd did it from Alpine midway through the second half, and the good fortune carried through San Diego State’s 75-60 win against Colorado State on Tuesday night at Viejas Arena.
History said the Rams never really had a chance, even coming off three Mountain West wins by 22, 29 and 22 points.
It was a Quad 3 game according to the NET metric, which separates games into four quadrants based on the location and the opponent’s ranking. And SDSU has now won 67 straight Quad 3 or lower games.
The other kiss of death for Colorado State: It followed an SDSU loss.
The Aztecs are now 35-4 in the last 39 games immediately following a loss, and 37-1 in the last 38 when the next game after a loss is at Viejas Arena.
And then they start banking in 3s?
No chance.
The Aztecs also got a career night from Byrd, who had 25 points, six rebounds, one block and seven steals. Yes, seven. That’s the most by an SDSU player in a Mountain West game since Chase Tapley had seven in 2011. The school record in the Division I era is nine by Tracy Dildy in 1986.
Byrd became only the second player in the nation this year with at least 25 points and seven steals in a game, joining Long Beach State’s Devin Askew (whose head coach is former SDSU assistant Chris Acker).
Davis added 12 points, and Wayne McKinney III had nine, his most in five games. Magoon Gwath had a solid night, with nine points, seven rebounds, a block and a steal.
Fellow freshman Pharaoh Compton would have had a big night if he could shoot free throws. He had eight points on 4-of-4 shooting but was 0 of 7 from the line and is now making just 35.5% of his freebies for the season.
Rams star Nique Clifford, who was averaging 16.9 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, finished with 11 points (on 5-of-16 shooting), six rebounds and five turnovers with Byrd as his primary defender.
The Rams (10-7, 4-2) had a season-high 18 turnovers and were blitzed 20-2 in bench scoring.
The Aztecs (11-4, 4-2) entered the night 2½ games behind New Mexico in the Mountain West standings. They ended it just 1½ games behind after the Lobos were shocked 71-70 at San Jose State three days after leading the Aztecs by 20 in Albuquerque and winning 62-48.
The first half went the way many others have this season.
The Aztecs struggle early, catch fire, take a lead, then struggle late.
It’s one of the confounding parts about this young team, losing focus for the final few minutes of the first half and letting teams to climb back into the game. It happened most notably against Utah State, after the Aztecs had built an 18-point lead, then faltered and gave the Aggies a glimmer of hope.
This time, they were up 32-23 after Byrd, who had 15 first-half points, turned a steal into a fast-break dunk that had the Viejas crowd roaring. (Or as the March Madness twitter feed called him, Myles Bird.)
And then:
A layup by CSU’s Jaylen Crocker-Johnson after running over Byrd and the officiating crew swallowing its whistle, much to the consternation of coach Brian Dutcher. An SDSU turnover. Two free throws by Crocker-Johnson following an offensive rebound. Two SDSU misses. A basket by Clifford.
That trimmed the margin to 32-29, but this time there was a twist: Davis banked in a 3 at the buzzer to mitigate some of the damage and sent the Aztecs into the locker room with a more positive glow.
And that carried over into the second half, pushing the lead to double figures and then 17 after Byrd banked in a deeeeeep 3 and McKinney scored inside.
Colorado State called timeout and tried zone, which at times this season has caused SDSU problems. Not this night. The Aztecs faltered on the first possession against the zone, then scored on the next four straight to bulge the margin to 18.
It got as high as 20.
Notable
Next up: Saturday at home against UNLV, with a rare 5 p.m. tip.
• “A moment of reflection” before tip-off for those affected by the Los Angeles fires.
• After getting the same officials multiple times this season, the crew assigned to Tuesday night’s game was new faces: Mike Pearson, Rob Kueneman and Galen Durant.
• Former Mountain West Player of the Year Jamaal Franklin, taking a break from a successful overseas pro career, has attended several Aztecs away games this season (in Las Vegas for the Players Era Festival and in San Jose against Cal), was sitting courtside and made his hands into a heart when introduced.
• Kimo Ferrari got minutes in both halves, making a 3 to elicit one of the night’s biggest roars.
Originally Published:
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