LAS VEGAS – First it was Miles Byrd rising from behind and whacking Pop Isaacs’ shot off the backboard, then six second later Magoon Gwath swatted Preseason Big East Player of the Year Ryan Kalkbrenner’s rebound try.
The stretch at the six minute mark of the second half typified the kind of dogged defensive effort by the San Diego State Aztecs as they pulled away in the second half to knock off the No. 21 Creighton Bluejays 71-53 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
“It's what Aztec basketball is, it's about defense,” said head coach Brian Dutcher. “It's easier to defend when the ball's going in… Our program is based on defending when it doesn't go in.”
SDSU (3-1) held Creighton (4-2) to 33.9% shooting for the game, including 1 of 16 from 3-point land in the second half. The Aztecs forced misses on 20 of the final 25 Bluejay shots and allowed buckets on back-to-back possessions just once in the final 13:49 of the game.
BJ Davis had another career-high day, going for 18 points and grabbing nine rebounds. He finished 7 of 11 from the field, making 3 of 5 from downtown and scored 7 on the fast break — SDSU had a 15-1 advantage on transition points.
“I kind of just tried to hunt my shot and stay ready because any given moment that ball could be swung my way. So just really being ready to just make plays,” Davis said.
Byrd scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half, as the Scarlet and Black shot 48.4% from the field and had every player score a basket.
“(Davis) is a killer, I love seeing what BJ is doing,” Byrd said. “We're from the same area and (have) been playing against each other since middle school. To see each other come out here and perform like this, we're just super excited.”
Creighton played without senior guard Steven Ashworth, who was injured late in the Bluejays previous game against Nebraska. Isaacs carried the offensive load and the ball-handling duties with 18 points on 7 of 20 shooting with five assists, while Kalkbrenner was limited to just 11 points on 5 of 12 shooting.
“We had a full week since Gonzaga to get ready. Basically stole Nebraska's game plan,” Dutcher said. “Played them front and back as best we could, tried to get the shooters. Without Ashworth, we were able to succeed in that.”
The Aztecs took the lead on a Davis transition dunk 4:30 into the game, and allowed the Jays to tie one more time before Wayne McKinney III’s midrange jumper put SDSU ahead for good at 10:34 of the first half.
Creighton pulled within 1 with 4:09 before halftime, but Davis responded with a transition triple, then Gwath made a fade away jumper from the left side of the lane at the buzzer to give the Aztecs a 32-28 lead at the break.
Byrd opened the second half with a paint jumper, then Jared Coleman-Jones knocked down a 3-pointer to push the edge to 9. The Bluejays would get as close as 6 points three times the rest of the way, but each time the Aztecs had a response.
“I think this year we're so long and athletic that it's going to be a sure thing that we come in the game, get a lot of blocks and deflections and stuff like that,” Byrd said.
SDSU continues at the Players Era Festival against Oregon tomorrow at 1 p.m. The Ducks knocked off No. 20 Texas A&M 80-70 in the second game of the afternoon on Tuesday.
“We're playing as good of bigs as there are in our three-game stretch as anybody in the country has to play,” Dutcher said. “We're just stacking games. We're playing good competition, trying to learn something about ourselves, yet still play well…
“We got one. Now we have to get greedy, get two and try to get a third if we can.”