San Diego State Aztecs @ TCU Horned Frogs Basketball Recap

San Diego State 66, TCU 53

The month of January – especially in its first few days – is a month in which people look back and look ahead. The basketball players from San Diego State probably aren’t huge on etymology and history, but they played in accordance with the spirit of the month of January on its fifth night.

Yes, this is the Aztec Empire of College Basketball, but for a brief bit, one must delve into the world of Ancient Rome. The month of January comes from the mythological Roman god Janus, the god of – among other things (courtesy of your friendly local encyclopedia) – doorways, beginnings and endings. Janus’s profile is that of a two-faced head. One face looks back to the past year and the other looks ahead to the new year. The month of January, as the initiator of each new year, is inspired completely by Janus.

In the opening game of Mountain West competition this year, the San Diego State basketball team took a page from the Janus playbook to carry momentum from non-conference action to the league it hopes to dominate.

The San Diego State Aztecs stayed perfect, not only scoring their first Mountain West Conference victory of the season with a win over Texas Christian in Fort Worth on Wednesday night, but remaining unblemished for the entire season.  Malcolm Thomas dominated the paint, leading the sixth-ranked Aztecs with 16 points 10 rebounds and 2 blocks.

Coach Jim Christian’s Texas Christian Frogs kept the contest close for much of the first half but simply ran out of gas as the second half commenced, and that’s when the Janus-based angle came into play. TCU led a sleepy and sluggish assemblage of Aztecs by a 25-19 count with 4:43 left in the first half, but then, with one eye on finishing the first stanza and another eye on starting the second half with conviction, the men from the Montezuma Mesa took charge.

Over the next 11 minutes, San Diego State used the end of the first half and the start of the second half to land a knockout blow. The Aztecs first used a 10-1 run over the final 4:43 of the first half to take a 29-26 halftime edge. Then they busted loose in the first 6:25 of the second half, uncorking a decisive 13-0 run as part of a 20-5 blitzkrieg that increased their lead to 49-31 with 13:35 left.  All told, SDSU produced a 30-6 run over an 11-minute sequence that spanned both halves. The Roman god entered into the first week of January and its unfolding pattern of continued Aztec domination.

The Aztecs gained a balanced effort from their three stars.  Kawai Leonard had 14 points 11 rebounds and Chase Tapley had 12 points to go along with Thomas's leading performance.  Steve Fisher's club is off to its best start in the 90-year history of San Diego State basketball.  The Aztecs also own the second-longest winning streak in the country at 16 games. On one hand, SDSU is struggling in the first 15 minutes of many of the games it plays. On the other hand, if the Aztecs keep controlling second halves, they’ll maintain a prominent place in the world of college basketball.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer