San Diego, CA – Matt Mitchell dropped 21 points with 5 rebounds and copped a steal to help SDSU (2-0) topple over Texas Southern 103-64 Wednesday night at Viejas Arena.
Jordan Schackel finished second on the stat sheet with 16 points and following him was Jalen McDaniels who had 14 points and nine rebounds.
Devin Watson also had 14 points and eight assists.
The Aztecs (2-0) conclude a brief two-game homestand to open the 2018-19 campaign and will now prepare to open the Maui Invitational in Hawaii against a talented Duke team that opened the season with a 118-84 win against Kentucky and has won its three games by an average of 28 points.
“They’re talented at every position. They’re well-coached,” SDSU coach Brian Dutcher said. “But I want to get them into a close game. I’d like to find a way to get the game close down the stretch. And I think Coach K would like that, too. He’s not served very well by winning all these games by 20 or 30. Now, I know he enjoys it, but when he gets to the ACC, they’re going to have some challenging games. I hope we’re the first one.”
Dutcher will need to strategize how to try to stop Duke’s big three freshmen.
Duke star’s Zion Williams, RJ Barrett, and Cam Reddish have been putting on a show in their first three games all averaging 20 points per game.
The aztecs have much to prepare for.
“I think Duke will be a good test being the number one team in the country,” sophomore Matt Mitchell said when asked how he feels about facing Duke. “It’ll be a test for us to see where we are.”
Mitchell stands at 6-foot-6, 230 pounds and is probably the closest matchup for Zion Williams, who is 6-7, 285.
“We’re giving up some weight but we’ll be close. I think that will be a fun matchup,” Dutcher said.
When asked on going up against the 285 pound Duke freshman Mitchell said, “Like Jordan said, we’ll take it one game at a time. Today it was Texas Southern and next time it’ll be Duke. The game after that is whoever it is and we’ll just take it one game at a time.”
BIG PICTURE
Texas Southern: This was the fourth of six straight road games for the Tigers to begin the season. They lost 104-67 at Gonzaga on Saturday night and 85-73 at Iowa State on Monday night.
San Diego State: The Aztecs, who won their first two games for the first time in four seasons, head into the game against Duke having beaten Arkansas-Pine Bluff by 16 and Texas Southern by 39. The Aztecs will face the Blue Devils for the first time since the 2015 NCAA Tournament, when Duke won 68-49.
UP NEXT
Texas Southern: Plays at Evansville on Monday night in a non-bracketed game of the Maui Invitational.
San Diego State: Faces No. 1 Duke on Monday in the opening round of the Maui Invitational. The Aztecs are 0-2 against the Blue Devils.
