LAS VEGAS – San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher and his players spouted 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 get better.

Well, they did.

The Aztecs took advantage of a 21st-ranked Creighton team missing its starting point guard, winning 71-53 in the first game of the Players Era Festival on Tuesday and continuing their crazy run of good luck in Sin City.

The Aztecs are now 58-16 in the last sixteen seasons here. This was their first match at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, but it is Las Vegas after all.

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

SDSU (3-1) now faces Oregon Wednesday (1 p.m., streaming on MAX) in the funky format of an event put together amid changing NCAA rules on non-conference tournaments that prevented the use of a traditional bracket. Saturday’s championship round is based on the results of two predetermined matches on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Beat Oregon and the Aztecs will have a good chance to play in the championship game due to the lopsided points differential against the Bluejays (4-2).

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

There was the flurry of 3s from BJ Davis, who finished with 18 points (and nine rebounds at 6-2) on 7-of-11 shooting. Midway through the second half, there were six straight possessions with baskets that pushed the lead to 16, punctuated by a pair of threes from Miles Byrd. There was Magoon Gwath’s step back at the first-half buzzer.

And then what happened was there was still six minutes to go. Creighton’s Pop Isaacs drove right and his shot was blocked by Byrd. Ryan Kalkbrenner, the 7-foot, all-American center, grabbed the loose ball and shot. Gwath declined.

Davis and Byrd (16 points) were the only Aztecs in double figures, which only illustrated how much of a team effort it was. Ten different players scored, combining for a total score of 48.4% and a blistering 8 of 17 from behind the arc.

By comparison, Creighton only allowed five players to score and shot 33.9%. The absence of senior guard Steven Ashworth, who was absent with a severely sprained ankle, was noticeable.

Granted, basketball coaches are not above “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: Kalkbrenner at the front of the post and provide help at the back with the other big ones.

The sacrifice leaves Creighton’s 4-man, 6-10 Jackson McAndrew, 3s open on the perimeter. And McAndrew is able to shoot them down, creating a pair in the opening minutes and giving 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 didn’t score until there was 1:04 left in the first half against the Aztecs — when Gwath got there could no longer fight for. the top and stand at the front.

At the other end, the Aztecs started slowly and failed to hit the rim in their first two possessions before a Gwath step back in the lane broke the ice.

Then BJ Davis, the second-year 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 responded with a counterintuitive strategy: putting his all-American center in front of a guy, 6-9 senior Frederick King, who is averaging 8.4 minutes and 3.1 points.

King delivered, scoring the next five points and setting up a run that got 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 and scored nine of his 11 points. But that was true for just about everyone at SDSU, who went 6-of-9 on 3s 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 T-Mobile Arena was built across the street, was downsized for this event, with the upper level seats covered in black curtains… Only one of the three officials (Randy Richardson) regularly updates SDSU games. The other two: James Breeding And Luke Santos … The event’s unusual format means the two highest-ranked teams here, No. 6 Houston and No. 9 Alabama, meet on the first day, meaning neither can advance to the championship.

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