Aztecs defeat No. 21 Creighton to open Players Era Festival – San Diego Union-Tribune

LAS VEGAS – San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher and his players spewed all the usual clichés after a rare double-digit home loss to No. 3 Gonzaga eight days ago: about being young, about learning to play with each other, about getting back into the gym and getting better.

Well, they did.

Taking advantage of the fact that the 21st-ranked Creighton team was missing its starting point guard, the Aztecs won 71-53 in the opening game of the Players Era Festival on Tuesday and continued their crazy winning streak in Sin City.

The Aztecs are now 58-16 here over the last 16 seasons. This was their first game at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, but it’s still Vegas.

And Creighton should know. The last time these teams met across the street at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas in 2019, the Aztecs won by 31 points.

SDSU (3-1) will now face Oregon here on Wednesday (1 p.m., streaming on MAX) in the canceled format of an event put together amid changing NCAA rules for nonconference tournaments that precluded the use of a traditional tournament bracket. Saturday’s championship round is based on the results of two predetermined games on Tuesday and Wednesday.

If they beat Oregon, the Aztecs have a good chance of playing in the championship game, as the point difference with the Bluejays (4-2) is lopsided.

If you’re looking for a defining moment in Tuesday’s game, there’s plenty to choose from.

There was a flurry of three-pointers from BJ Davis, who scored 18 points (and nine rebounds while going 6-2) on 7-of-11 shooting. There were six straight possessions with baskets midway through the second half that increased the lead to 16, punctuated by a pair of three-pointers from Miles Byrd. When Magoon Gwath set the tone in the first half, he took a step back.

And then something happened with six minutes to go. Creighton’s Pop Isaacs drove right and his shot was blocked by Byrd. Ryan Kalkbrenner, the 7-foot-1 All-American center, grabbed the loose ball and shot. Gwath beat that.

Davis and Byrd (16 points) were the only Aztecs to score in double figures, which just highlighted the magnitude of the team effort. Ten different players scored, for an overall shooting percentage of 48.4% and an incredible 8 of 17 points from behind the arc.

In comparison, at Creighton only five players scored a goal and a shooting percentage of 33.9%. The absence of senior guard Steven Ashworth, who was sidelined with a severe ankle sprain, was evident.

Admittedly, basketball coaches are not shy about “borrowing” tactical strategies from other teams, and Nebraska’s plan against Kalkbrenner on Friday night in Omaha did not go unnoticed by the SDSU staff.

The plan: Front Kalkbrenner in the post and backside help with the other big.

The sacrifice leaves Creighton’s 4-man, 6-10 Jackson McAndrew, open on the sidelines for three seconds. And McAndrew can shoot them, making a pair in the opening minutes to give the Bluejays an 8-4 lead.

But the plan certainly worked for Kalkbrenner, who attempted just one shot in 39 minutes of Friday’s 74-63 loss to visiting Nebraska and only scored with 1:04 left in the first half against the Aztecs – when Gwath was unable to assert himself at the top and move forward.

On the other hand, the Aztecs started slowly and failed to hit the rim on their first two possessions before a Gwath stepback in the lane broke the ice.

Then BJ Davis, the sophomore guard who barely played last season, took over. His deep 3 gave the Aztecs a 25-16 lead and forced a Creighton timeout.

Bluejays coach Greg McDermott countered with a counterintuitive strategy: He swapped his All-American center for one man, 6-9 senior Frederick King, who averaged 8.4 minutes and 3.1 points.

King delivered, scoring the next five points and sparking a run that brought the Bluejays back into the game. SDSU led 32-28 at halftime after Gwath took another step back at the buzzer.

Kalkbrenner got going in the second half when he scored nine of his 11 points. But so did pretty much everyone on SDSU, which shot 6 of 9 from 3-point range in the second half before missing a few late.

Remarkable

The MGM Grand Garden Arena, the former site of the Pac-12 Tournament before the construction of T-Mobile Arena across the street, was scaled down for this event, with the upper seating covered in black curtains… Only one of the three officials (Randy Richardson) regularly works SDSU games. The other two: James Breeding And Lucas Santos … The event’s unusual format means the two top-ranked teams here, No. 6 Houston and No. 9 Alabama, will meet on the first day, meaning neither can advance to the championship.

Originally published: November 26, 2024 at 1:08 pm PST