The No. 16 San Diego State University men’s basketball team beat Point Loma Nazarene University handedly, 74-45, Friday night at Viejas Arena.
Point Loma will not be the most talented team the Aztecs play this season, and the game did not count toward the team’s record, but Head Coach Steve Fisher liked what he saw out of his squad.
” I think we wore them down with our size, depth and athleticism.,” Fisher said in the post-game press conference. “When they came in here two years ago, it was 35-30 at the half and it was a very close game for the majority of the game. We did a lot of things that I liked.”
Junior guard Winston Shepard notched a double-double with a team-high 16 points and 10 rebounds.
“We have a lot of good players on this team now so that puts good pressure on me. I have to play like that, I hope I can always be in control,” Shepard said in the post-game press conference.
In his first starting five of the season, Fisher elected to go with freshman Trey Kell to fill the void left by point guard Xavier Thames who graduated after last season.
Kell finished the game with 10 points on 7-14 shooting, but did not attempt a three-pointer, one of his greatest assets. Fellow freshman point guard Kevin Zabo collected five points and no assists, in 19 minutes of play.
“I thought our freshmen were pretty good,” Fisher said. ” They are better than they showed tonight. At times, I thought they tried too hard to do exactly what the book said rather than to just play.”
Something to watch will be the health of senior guard Aqeel Quinn and redshirt-sophomore forward Matt Shrigley, as the team approaches their first official game next friday against Cal State Northridge.
Quinn did not suit up at all Friday night because of a sore knee that occurred due to bumping knees with another player in practice earlier in the week. Shrigley took a hard fall on his elbow during the game, but the only info Fisher had to offer post-game was that it was still swollen and stiff.
SDSU will open up their season officially next Friday at 7 p.m. PT against CSUN, at Viejas Arena.