Recap of the 66-53 win over UC Riverside on Nov. 9
SDSU MBB returned to Viejas Arena on Tuesday to face off against UC Riverside. The Aztecs looked to show their dominance after a sort of disappointing win against St. Katherine.
Any win is good, especially if it’s starting off the season 1-0. But for the Aztecs, these are not the wins that they should be ecstatic about. The Aztecs won by 13 against UCR but a double-digit win doesn’t tell the whole story.
The two teams were close throughout the entire game even being tied 13-13 with 11:38 left to go in the first half. Offensively besides Seniors Matt Bradley and Trey Pulliam, the Aztecs could barely buy a basket. Only two players for the Aztecs scored in double digits, Bradley 23 and Pulliam 15.
The team shot just 2-11 from deep and 18-29 from the line. Although the Aztecs won the rebound battle 34-26 it wasn’t pretty. Without Nathan Mensah on the court, the rebounding was sloppy and lackadaisical.
Again, Sophomore Lamont Butler struggled in 16 minutes scoring just five points. Although Butler started in the preseason versus St. Katherine, Senior Adam Seiko started versus UCR. In 29 minutes Seiko scored zero points, had one assist and one turnover.
A bright spot for the team was Chad Baker-Mazara. In 16 minutes, he brought energy, energy, and more energy. Baker-Mazara had a crowd-raising block and knocked down three free throws early in the game.
After another game in Viejas Arena, the Aztecs still don’t look like a top 25 team in the nation. They struggle to shoot the three-ball and outside of Mensah, Bradley, and Pulliam they struggle to score the ball. Bradley is going to have to score the ball at a high rate if they want to have a chance in a competitive game.
Once again, if the Aztecs want to be a top 25 team in the nation, THEY NEED TO PLAY BETTER! Next up will be a good matchup against an always competitive BYU team.
Full game recap: https://youtu.be/kuMumFKT_yA