There's an apocryphal expression in basketball when you're mired in a shooting slump: "Shoot your way out of it."
San Diego State gave it a try Monday night because, well, nothing else has worked over the past few weeks, shooting a dismal 18.9% behind the 3-point arc in their last five games against Division I competition and ranking near the bottom nationally for the season. The Aztecs were 3 of 15 in Saturday's loss against Saint Mary's. So why not jack up 18 treys in the first half against Kennesaw State at Viejas Arena?
The Aztecs continued to chip paint off the rims (4 of 18), but it was more about perception than percentages. More about attitude, confidence, swagger.
And that much appears to be back, racing to a 19-point lead in the first half and winning 88-54 on the day when SDSU fell out of the Associated Press top 25 for the first time this season and didn't have senior guard Adam Seiko after a leg injury in warmups. Throw out the 95-57 decision against Div. III Occidental, and this was their first win by more than 12 points since the Nov. 7 opener against Cal State Fullerton.
Or put another way: They needed this.
The sky wasn't falling after all.
Now the Aztecs (8-3) get a much-needed break, first for final exams and then for Christmas. They play once over the next two weeks, Dec. 20 here against a 4-5 UC San Diego team that lost 84-58 at USD on Monday night. They open the Mountain West campaign against perennial doormat Air Force on Dec. 28.
Their next game against an opponent in the top 200 in the major metrics is New Year's Eve at UNLV, which is 10-0 and received more votes in the latest AP poll.
SDSU players routinely say they don't pay attention to the polls, but Monday's balloting had to hurt. They dropped from No. 22 to 11th among others receiving votes, or 36th overall, after losing 68-61 on a neutral court to a Saint Mary's team that was actually ahead of them in the metrics and a 1.5-point favorite in Las Vegas. The fall in the USA Today coaches poll was even steeper, to 37th overall.
Whatever the motivation, after a three-week hiatus, the Aztecs began to resemble the team that beat No. 23 Ohio State 88-77 in the opener of the Maui Invitational on Nov. 21.
But it doesn't matter if you're missing shots if you rebound them, and SDSU was. By halftime, the Aztecs had a 7-1 advantage in offensive boards and 12-0 in second-chance points.
And you can miss all the shots you want if the other team can't even shoot them. The Owls (6-4) had 12 turnovers by intermission that the Aztecs converted into 11 points.
So that's 23 of their 39 first-half points (or 59 percent) that came from offensive rebounds or turnovers.
Kennesaw State entered the game eighth nationally in 3-point accuracy, then made three early to take a 12-10 lead – only to get blitzed by a 19-2 run over the next five minutes. Seven of the points came on fast break baskets off turnovers.
The Aztecs would have had more than 39 at halftime had they not gone scoreless for the final four minutes while the Owls, who lost by only 10 at Florida earlier this season and had won two straight road games, closed to 14. But a 9-0 run to open the second half ended any designs of a comeback, and soon the margin was in the 30s. And then 40.
It was the first time all three newcomers were clicking together this season. Micah Parrish (19 points), Jaedon LeDee (14) and Darrion Trammell (14) combined for 47 points on 15 of 28 shooting.
Parrish had just four points total in his last two games. LeDee, who was 10 of 11 at the line and had seven rebounds, hadn't scored in double figures since Nov. 15 at Stanford, eight games ago. Trammell, playing with a heavily taped left hamstring, made two 3s in a game for the first time since BYU on Nov. 11.
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