Aztecs secure second conference win over Utah State in Logan

The Aztecs seemed to be on the verge of burying the Utah State Aggies after a 13–0 run. It began at the end of the first half with a pull up three from Trey Kell out of the pick and roll and ended with a turnaround jump shot by Winston Shepard from his favorite spot, the short corner on the offense’s right side of the court.

The Aztecs were then called for four fouls over a span of 12 seconds of game play. Two of those fouls were called in a dead ball situation, as the Aggies were attempting to inbound the basketball. Dakarai Allen was whistled for a foul two seconds later. The officials may have gotten a few extra reps in with their whistles tonight, but the Aggies snapped out of their trance after a free throw and a quick bucket.

The Aztecs did not and should not have expected an easy victory. Utah State may not stand out on paper, but forward Lew Evans sure did Saturday night: He made 4 of his 6 3PT attempts and got to the free throw line 12 times (cut to Nick Duncan nodding and smiling). Evans had made all of 5 treys in his 12 games prior. Utah State’s constant player movement resulted in penetration against a longer, more athletic squad.

San Diego State’s 2PT defense has been among the 5 best in the country, but its 3PT defense has been quite average. The defense successfully eliminated wide open looks from deep and dared Utah State to finish over its length — the Aggies shot 5–20 from deep. The Aztecs will happily hang their hat on that number.

Offensively, four starters reached double figures for the Aztecs. Winston Shepard led the way with 18 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 steals. You could say Shepard has flipped the switch at just the right time.

But, fans are more likely to have been waiting on such back-to-back performances from the preseason Mountain West Conference player of the year — the guy who has said to a live camera that he wishes to play “15 to 16 years” in the NBA. Steve Fisher came out and said he had talked with his senior co-captain about making plays for others and hitting the glass harder.

Fisher’s message has resounded, at least in the interim. Shepard has played well enough to lead the way to two victories but needs to continue to chip away at his mistakes. He has 34 points, 13 free throw attempts, 17 rebounds, and 6 assists in two conference games. He also has 7 turnovers and needed 29 shots to get those 34 points. Shepard finished each of his first three seasons with a negative assist:turnover ratio. This season, through Saturday, it is at 22:26.

There is more good news than bad for Shepard and the Aztecs. The senior forward made quick decisions when the basketball was in his hands more often than he had at any prior point in the season. He got to his spots near the block and didn’t fall in love with the idea of standing still while dribbling. When Shepard sheds his maddening tendency to stand with the ball as he did Saturday night, flipping that assist:turnover ratio from negative to positive is all that needs to be done.

Trey Kell has accelerated his growth as a scorer, with his shot selection being the biggest indicator. He’s now willing to take a three off the dribble if he’s got space. More importantly, he is making better shoot/pass decisions when he drives. Kell was taking and missing some near impossible shots earlier in the season. Kell made good reads Saturday to move the ball at the start of his drives and finishing them when a crease was there for him to attack.

Zylan Cheatham found himself in some foul trouble again. But he will figure it out. I’m afraid to put my “NBA ceiling” comparison player out there for him until he does.

Malik Pope started with a left handed driving lay up and an alley oop dunk. He finished with four missed free throws and two missed threes, one of which hit the top of the backboard from the corner. He has remained resilient and is slowly improving defensively, but at this point he needs to buckle down and play 15 feet and in. Once he takes out his anger with some drives to the rim, his jump shot will come back to him. Don’t panic.

Tempo? The Aztecs still haven’t lived up to their promises to play at a faster pace. This season, their tempo ranks in the 300s (via kenpom.com) — there are 351 division 1 teams. They haven’t shown a strong ability to execute half court offense well enough to make a deep tournament run. In order to truly become a threat, this team needs to exchange walking the basketball up the court for getting into their half court offense 5–6 seconds earlier to truly give “up tempo” an honest try.

Believe this: Opposing teams have (and utilize) a scouting report on Dakarai Allen. They are refusing to leave him wide open at all costs and forcing him to be a driver. He is struggling to remain patient, showing more frustration than most of his teammates, but he is a smart basketball player. His forced drives resulting in charges or ugly misses have transformed to simple plays like this one:

The Aztecs will return home and face San Jose State on Wednesday at 7 PM. The game will be available on ESPN3. The Spartans lost by 9 at home to Utah State and lost by 7 at Air Force in their first two MWC contests.

*Originally posted January 3, 2016.