3 thoughts: No. 22 San Diego State 72, Boise State 52 … the meeting, Nathan’s statement and the road ahead

Three ideas on No. 22 San Diego State’s 72-52 win towards Boise State on Friday evening:

1. Assembly agenda

When officers summon captains to the middle circle throughout pregame warmups, different groups typically ship two or three gamers, often starters. SDSU sends one: Aguek Arop, who has began solely seven of 119 profession video games and none this season.

“He does quite a bit for our staff, all of the little stuff,” guard Darrion Trammell stated. “He retains us collectively as a frontrunner.”

So when, after a movie session earlier than Thursday afternoon’s apply, Arop requested the coaches to go away so he might host a players-only, closed-door assembly, they willingly obliged whereas they twiddled their thumbs on the Viejas Enviornment courtroom for a half-hour.

“I’m glad he didn’t ask me for any of my wage,” coach Brian Dutcher stated. “He most likely did a greater job than I do at some issues. However he’s a frontrunner, and when he desires to speak to the staff, he has an open mic to take action.”

The set off was Tuesday’s 75-66 loss at Nevada by which the Wolf Pack shot 65.2 p.c within the second half and scored on 14 of its last 15 possessions. Arop supplied a harsh evaluation in post-game interviews: “We simply can’t have that occur.”

Each participant stood up and spoke, taking accountability for his or her shortcomings and addressing areas that want enchancment. They reasserted their roles, recommitted, refocused.

“All of us felt we had one thing extra to present,” Trammell stated.

“All of us had been truthful with ourselves,” Nathan Mensah stated, “what we will do to carry the staff as much as the requirements that San Diego State is thought for.”

The final players-only assembly got here earlier than the season, after they watched the LeBron James documentary on Netflix collectively and outlined their targets and roles for the 12 months. That was deliberate upfront; this was not.

The outcomes Friday evening had been palpable — a 22-point halftime lead and sustaining that vitality by means of the second half, not letting the Broncos get nearer than 16. The blowout win raised their metrics to 22 in Kenpom, 20 within the NET, 16 in KPI and 9 in Bart Torvik’s T-rank.

“The gamers took extra possession within the route of the season, and that’s what has to occur,” Dutcher stated. “Participant-driven groups are all the time higher than coach-driven groups. I instructed them after the sport: ‘You’ll make out of the season no matter you need to make out of it. We’re right here to facilitate that, to make it what you need it to be.’

“In the event that they spend money on the season, spend money on the staff, spend money on themselves, then we’re going to have a extremely good 12 months.”

2. Nonetheless right here

One of many first individuals who raised his hand and spoke Thursday was senior middle Nathan Mensah, who was outscored 19-4 by Nevada counterpart Will Baker on Tuesday.

“I felt just like the earlier video games, I let the staff down defensively,” Mensah stated Friday evening. “I felt like anytime I play properly, the opposing staff can sense my presence all through the video games. Not one of the guys I used to be guarding had that menace. The Nevada sport was a wake-up name.

“I took it personally, being Mountain West defensive participant of the 12 months. If somebody would have watched me, they wouldn’t have thought of me a defensive menace. I felt like this coming sport, I needed to make an announcement that Nathan continues to be right here.”

Duly famous.

Mensah had 17 factors, a profession greatest towards a Mountain West opponent, going 4 of 4 from the sector and 9 of 12 from the road. He had six rebounds. He blocked two photographs. He dedicated just one foul.

However the stat that actually outlined his dramatic resurgence was an obscure one: fouls drawn. Mensah drew 10, a loopy quantity.

4 got here towards Tyson Degenhart, Boise State’s main scorer — three in 3½ minutes within the first half and his fourth with 16:02 to go. That, greater than something, modified the sport, taking the Broncos’ greatest participant off the ground in the course of the massive first-half run and defusing any designs on a second-half comeback.

Via 11 convention video games, just one participant had drawn greater than six in a sport — Trammell with eight towards UNLV. However that was in 34 minutes. Mensah drew 10 in 25 minutes.

“It’s as a result of he was aggressive,” Dutcher stated. “Two or three of them had been as a result of he was going to the offensive glass and so they needed to push him to field him out. When he performs with that form of vitality and assertiveness, it’s not solely when he catches the ball, it’s when he pursues the ball. He did an ideal job of that.

“I believed he performed pretty much as good a sport as he’s performed all 12 months.”

3. The street forward

The Aztecs (18-5, 9-2) are alone in first place with seven regular-season video games remaining. They’re all essential, however the season basically comes down to a few, beginning Wednesday evening at Utah State (7 p.m. PST, CBS Sports activities Community).

Right here’s the way it might shake out:

The Aztecs have three house video games remaining towards UNLV, Colorado State and Wyoming, all groups within the backside 5. You work they win these.

Then there’s a street sport at Fresno State (8-14, 4-7), the worst Mountain West staff within the Kenpom metric at 166. The Kenpom metric offers SDSU a 79-percent probability of profitable.

That leaves three street video games towards the higher echelon of the convention: at Utah State (8-3) on Wednesday, at New Mexico (6-4) on Feb. 25, at Boise State (8-3) three days later. Steal a type of three, and the Aztecs end 14-4 — sufficient, you’d assume, for a minimum of a share of the regular-season title.

Boise State, Utah State and Nevada can all get to 15-3, however that requires working the desk in what Dutcher calls probably the most aggressive, tightly bunched convention in its 24-year historical past. And Boise State and Nevada each nonetheless have video games at Utah State.

Kenpom sees the Aztecs doing precisely that, attending to 14-4 and profitable the title outright by one sport over Boise State and Nevada at 13-5. Metrically talking, the New Mexico sport is considered by the pc as the very best probability to steal a street win, score it a 50-50 prospect. The Aztecs are given a 48-percent probability of profitable at Utah State and 42-percent probability at Boise State.

What the pc can’t see is ticket gross sales and geeked up pupil sections. The Boise State sport is Senior Evening and needs to be near a sellout at 12,480-seat ExtraMile Enviornment. The Pit in New Mexico (capability 15,411) is already bought out for SDSU and rated by Kenpom because the nation’s eighth most daunting street venue.

Utah State’s Dee Glen Smith Spectrum? It holds solely 10,270, however almost 4,000 of that’s occupied by “The Hurd” pupil part. It’s ranked No. 5 in street venues by Kenpom.

“We’re a leg up now,” Dutcher stated, “however there’s a whole lot of work to be finished.”