Aztecs defeat Toreros

San Diego State University outmatches USD in potential final matchup between rivals

Chris Spiering / Sports Editor / The USD Vista

The Jenny Craig Pavilion was packed Wednesday, Nov. 20 as the University of San Diego Toreros were looking to defeat the San Diego State University Aztecs in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2001. This was the 51st meeting between the two rivals, but for now, this was the last matchup as both schools decided not to renew the contract that allows them to keep playing each other season after season. SDSU has the advantage in all-time wins between the two schools, (31-19) but USD got the win last season, with a score of 73-61. 

USD men’s basketball head coach Sam Scholl reflected on the possibility of this being the final game between the two schools.

“For us, it’s an opportunity to play against a really good non-conference program,” Scholl said. “A program that has a long history and a long tradition of winning championships, so for us, it’s a great game to see where we are at. So that will be the disappointing part, is not having that opportunity to have that challenge to get ready for WCC play.”

The intensity from the crowd was huge on both sides as SDSU’s fan base traveled the short 9.8 miles from campus to cheer on the Aztecs. The USD Bull Pit brought a ton of energy to the arena early on in the game, but it was no match for a healthy crowd of Aztec fans chanting “A-Z-T-E-C-S” during the duration of the game. 

The game started out slow for the Toreros as the shots just weren’t falling early on. The intensity from the crowd affected both teams, as they seemed anxious to impress the fans. USD has a young team, so a lot of those players were experiencing that kind of atmosphere for the first time. 

USD didn’t score their first points until after about two and a half minutes into the game when redshirt senior Alex Floresca hit a jump shot from just outside the basket. USD just couldn’t score more than four points in nearly the first 10 minutes of the game as the Aztecs’ defense came to play.

After an early timeout by the Toreros, they finally started to get into rhythm as some shots started to fall by redshirt first-year guard Marion Humphrey and redshirt-sophomore forward Jared Rodriguez. USD got into foul trouble early as Floresca was hit with his second foul. The Toreros were already missing their starting center, Yauhen Massalski, who was out due to an injury. With injuries and foul trouble early on for the Toreros, senior forward Yanni Wetzell took advantage of that for the Aztecs. Wetzell was controlling rebounds and seemed to always have a good shot attempt. The Torero defense couldn’t find a way to stop him in the first half. 

With just under 10 minutes to go in the first half, USD started to go on a run as they scored 10 points to the Aztecs’ two. First-year guard Noel Coleman was a huge spark off the bench for the Toreros. He left those jitters on the bench as he seemed comfortable making slick passes and even playing great defense with a steal that led to a layup. Entering the game, Coleman was averaging 4.6 points per game. 

With just seven minutes to play in the first half, Rodriguez hit a three-pointer to make the score 19-17. But that two-point deficit was the closest the Toreros would get to the Aztecs. The Aztecs then went on a run of their own to close out the first half. 

It was a low-scoring game in the first half as the Aztecs had the advantage 34-26. Wetzell had a game-high nine points and eight rebounds in the first half for the Aztecs. Coleman had a team-high seven points to lead USD. 

The second half started out similar to the first half as both defenses came out strong. But Wetzell was in control as he had an early five points for the Aztecs to bump their lead up to 39-26. Redshirt-sophomore guard Joey Calcaterra, however, wouldn’t go out without a fight. He tried to keep the Toreros in the game as he hit a couple shots early on in the second half. After a 3-pointer by Coleman made the score 43-32, the Aztecs took complete control.  

SDSU went on a 10-0 run to make the score 53-32, and that 19-point deficit would be insurmountable for USD. The Aztecs were bigger and more physical than the Toreros this time around, and it showed. SDSU is averaging around 10 3-pointers a game, which can be difficult when trying to figure out how to defend them. 

Scholl described his gameplan to try and defend them. 

“We feel like threes break the game open,” Scholl said. “They are making 10 (3-pointers) a game going in, so it’s a long standing thing defending two point shots. But I felt like our guys could challenge and go double them. We didn’t want them to beat us with threes.” 

Even though the score was one-sided, the Toreros never quit. They continued to fight until the time ran out as they kept trying to get back into the game. For USD, Coleman finished the game with 10 points and three rebounds while Floresca finished with eight points and three rebounds. Junior forward James Jean-Marie had a team-high 10 rebounds and scored 10 points to give him a double-double. For the Aztecs, Wetzell finished with 20 points, and 12 rebounds to cap off his incredible game. Wetzell shot 9-11 as he only missed two shots all night. USD as a team shot only 35% from the field, as the Aztecs shot 47.5% from the field. 

The Toreros turned the ball over 20 times to the Aztecs 10, and that had a huge impact on the game. 

“Tonight wasn’t about our defense,” Scholl said. “It was about turning the ball over 20 times, shooting an abysmal percentage of shots, and not being able to get into any kind of offensive flow.”

The Aztecs improved to 4-0 on the season as they defeated USD 66-49. The Toreros’ record stands at 3-7 currently, as USD went on to lose at No. 25 Washington (88-69) on Nov. 24 and then defeated Hofstra University (79-69) on the 27th of November. The next home game for USD is against UC Davis on Saturday, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. in the JCP.