There were a lot of new faces on the floor for San Diego State in its exhibition against Cal State San Marcos, but it was senior guard Winston Shepard who paced the team in its 86-48 victory.
Shepard finished with a game-high 22 points, going 10-for-15, and also added a game-high five assists.
“It’s time for me to continue to be more consistent,” Shepard said at the post-game press conference. “Since I got here, at any given game, I could explode. At that same time, I’ve also had games where I didn’t play that well, so I’ve just been working this whole summer and offseason on just trying to stay consistent.”
The win against CSUSM marked the first time that fans got a chance to see freshman point guard Jeremy Hemsley and redshirt-freshman forward Zylan Cheatham in game action.
Cheatham showed off the athleticism he is lauded for, scoring eight points and grabbing six rebounds in 15 minutes, and threw down a hard dunk midway through the second half on a breakaway.
“He plays with a motor that is hard to coach; he plays with good energy,” coach Steve Fisher said. ” He, at times tries too hard, but that is not unnatural for a guy that didn’t play at all last year and is so anxious to get out there.”
Hemsley looked a little shaky out of the gate, going 2-for-11 from the field and 0-for-3 on 3-pointers.
Fisher was still happy with the aggressiveness he showed in his debut, and said he’s a “keeper.”
Sophomore forward Malik Pope did not suit up due to a knee injury, but Fisher said after the game he would have played if it was a regular season conference game.
Junior forward Dakari Allen started in his place and led the team with three steals.
The teams official season opener takes place against Illinois State at 7 p.m. on Nov. 13 at Viejas Arena.