LAHAINA, Hawaii — For years, as Steve Fisher built San Diego State into a West Coast hoops powerhouse, the Aztecs’ reputation as a defensive stalwart grew.
Under Fisher’s successor, Brian Dutcher, SDSU now has the tools to go up-and-up with big-name opponents in shootouts, too.
The 17th-ranked Mountain West team proved up to the task of tussling with Ohio State of the Big Ten, 88-77, at an energized Lahaina Civic Center on Day 1 of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational on Monday.
“They’re better offensively than what they have been,” Buckeyes coach Chris Holtmann observed. “And they’re still going to be a very good defensive team, I would expect. A very good defensive team. I just think collectively they can really make shots at a lot of different positions.”
The SDSU bench alone accounted for 41 points. Dutcher said, half-jokingly, that his assistant coaches kept pestering him to insert the subs two minutes into the game when the starters missed a few shots.
“We’ve had scoring off the bench all year,” said Dutcher, now in his sixth season at the helm. “We have guys coming off the bench who could easily be starting for us.”
The teams lit it up in the second half with 51 points apiece. SDSU finished shooting 50.8%, including a couple of 3-pointers that nestled gently on the back iron of the Lahaina Civic Center’s infamously soft rims and dropped through the net.
SDSU (4-0) advanced to face the winner of No. 14 Arizona and Cincinnati at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday (7:30 p.m. Pacific).
Monday’s key stretches happened with about 13 minutes to play, when OSU (3-1) got within 51-47 and SDSU responded with consecutive 3-pointers from Micah Parrish.
Guard Lamont Butler then stole the Buckeyes’ ensuing in-bounds pass and fed it to Aguek Arop for a layup. In the span of 39 seconds, the Aztecs had poured in eight points.
“After (the steal), the fans just roared, and then that just kind of kept our momentum going right there all the way through the game,” Butler said.
Matt Bradley led SDSU with 18 points in 18 minutes. Butler finished with 15 points, Parrish had 15 and Adam Seiko 14.
SDSU had a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio as a team, 14 to seven.
Shooting guard Sean McNeil led OSU with 22 points on 9-for-14 shooting. OSU will play in Tuesday’s second consolation semifinal at noon local time (5 p.m. Eastern).
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii.
