{"id":463091,"date":"2025-12-21T22:46:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T22:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/463091\/"},"modified":"2025-12-21T22:46:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T22:46:12","slug":"no-1-arizona-68-sdsu-45-an-uncomfortable-reality-unfamiliar-ball-and-underachieving-trio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/463091\/","title":{"rendered":"No. 1 Arizona 68, SDSU 45 … an uncomfortable reality, unfamiliar ball and underachieving trio"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHOENIX \u2013 Three thoughts on San Diego State\u2019s 68-45 loss to\u00a0 No. 1 Arizona<\/a> on Saturday night at the Mortgage Matchup Center:<\/p>\n

1. Pros vs. Joes<\/p>\n

The micro view is that the Aztecs couldn\u2019t shoot and couldn\u2019t rebound, that they still haven\u2019t found their rhythm with an 11-man rotation, that the defense disappeared when the offense showed up and the offense disappeared when the defense finally showed up.<\/p>\n

The macro view is more disconcerting.<\/p>\n

This is part of a larger trend in college athletics rapidly partitioning Division I programs into haves and have-nots in the era of the transfer portal, NIL and revenue-sharing.<\/p>\n

Or, as coaches sarcastically call it, unlimited free agency without a salary cap.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just men\u2019s basketball. In football, four of the best Group of 5 teams have faced power conference programs in bowl games or the College Football Playoff this month. Washington State beat Boise State 38-10. North Carolina State beat Memphis 31-7. In Saturday\u2019s CFP first round, Ole Miss beat Tulane 41-10 and Oregon beat James Madison 54-34 after leading 34-3.<\/p>\n

An SDSU program that rarely gets blown out has faced the nation\u2019s Nos. 1 and 2 teams this season. The Aztecs lost by 40 and 23 points.<\/p>\n

In basketball, the only non-power conference team in the Associated Press Top 25 is Gonzaga, which is essentially a power conference program given its pedigree and vast financial resources without the drain of football. The top eight among others receiving votes are all from power conferences as well.<\/p>\n

The top 25\u2019s record against non-power conference opponents this season: 139-0.<\/p>\n

The best 10 mid-major teams in Kenpom are 8-14 against power conferences, including SDSU\u2019s 1-3.<\/p>\n

Dig deeper into the Kenpom metric that rates conferences 1 through 31 by assigning a projected margin of victory for a typical member against an average team, and it\u2019s even more pronounced. The gap between the lowest-rated power conference (Big East) and the top-rated mid-major conference (Mountain West) has fluctuated between six and eight points this season, the largest in the 30-year history of Kenpom stats.<\/p>\n

The only variables that have changed are money and movement.<\/p>\n

According to one informal list compiled by a power conference administrator, more than 30 teams \u2013 and pretty much the entire AP 25 \u2013 have basketball payrolls in eight figures this year, ranging from $10 million to Kentucky\u2019s reported $22 million. In four years, SDSU went from $350,000 to just under $3 million, a remarkable achievement for an NIL collective basically run out of Jeff and Wendy Smith\u2019s home, but still miles short in a game where the goalposts keep moving.<\/p>\n

Money doesn\u2019t guarantee success. But it helps. It really, really helps.<\/p>\n

Power conferences distribute $50 million to $75 million per member per year. Mountain West schools get $6 million; the Pac-12 likely will be somewhere between $8 and $10 million.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a fair fight. It never has been, but the difference now is it\u2019s starting to show up in the box scores.<\/p>\n

\"ArizonaArizona guard Anthony Dell\u2019Orso (3) shoots over San Diego State guard Miles Byrd during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo\/Rick Scuteri)
\n2. The ball<\/p>\n

Stanford beat Colorado in the night\u2019s first game at the home of the Phoenix Suns. The Cardinal was 7 of 21 on 3s. The Buffaloes were 4 of 17.<\/p>\n

Then Arizona and SDSU played: 6 of 25 and 1 of 14.<\/p>\n

In all, that\u2019s 18 of 77, or 23.4%.<\/p>\n

Good defense? Coincidentally off shooting nights? The sightlines and backdrop of an unfamiliar arena?<\/p>\n

Or was something else at work?<\/p>\n

Unlike the NBA or other pro sports leagues, college basketball doesn\u2019t use a single, uniform ball. Programs can cut their own sponsorship deals; the home team chooses the ball. In neutral-court events, the promoter does.<\/p>\n

SDSU, Arizona, Stanford and Colorado all use Nike Elite balls. The Naismith Hall of Fame, which organizes and promotes a series of nonconference games across the country, has an endorsement contract with Spalding.<\/p>\n

\u201cListen, to these guys\u2019 credit, it\u2019s tough,\u201d Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd chimed in when guard Jaden Bradley was asked if the arena\u2019s sightlines were the culprit for the substandard shooting. \u201cThey\u2019re playing with a ball they\u2019ve never played with before. That can be difficult. You have a couple days to prepare. It just has a different feel.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not making excuses, because I think both teams suffered from it. They were 1 of 14 from 3, and their only one was a bank. And coming into the game, they were shooting 41% from 3 as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most Mountain West teams are affiliated with Nike. Fresno State, San Jose State and Nevada use Wilson balls. Wyoming uses Adidas.<\/p>\n

\u201cListen, the ball is probably fine,\u201d Lloyd said of the Spalding ball adorned with the Hall of Fame logo. \u201cI\u2019m not here to bash the ball, but if you haven\u2019t been using it \u2026 Could you imagine baseball, where they played with a different style of baseball? They don\u2019t do that. They have a standardized one. We just don\u2019t have that in college basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re seeing a lot of Nike balls, a lot of Wilson balls. You just don\u2019t see many Spaldings. The Spalding throws our guys a little bit of a curve.\u201d<\/p>\n

As he spoke, the three Wildcat players with him on the podium tried to conceal their snickers.<\/p>\n

3. All-conference<\/p>\n

Even if you want to write off SDSU\u2019s shooting woes to the ball, that doesn\u2019t disguise the elephant in the (locker) room.<\/p>\n

There are 10 preseason Mountain West all-conference selections, and the Aztecs have three of them. Ten games into the season, none is playing like it.<\/p>\n

Miles Byrd, the preseason player of the year, is averaging 9.4 points per game while shooting under 40% overall and 32.6% from 3. He had big games against Troy (24 points) and Lamar (19 points), and is averaging 6.4 points in the other eight.<\/p>\n

Reese Dixon-Waters is averaging 10.7 points, but he\u2019s shooting 27.5% overall and 5 of 23 behind the arc in the five games since a 22-point outburst against Oregon.<\/p>\n

Magoon Gwath is at 9.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks, but he hasn\u2019t made a 3 in five games.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, they\u2019ve got to start making some shots,\u201d SDSU coach Brian Dutcher said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had BJ (Davis) in the back pocket, and he\u2019s bailed us out, and he had a rough night (four points, 1 of 12 shooting).<\/p>\n

\u201cI need one of those three to make shots for us to be competitive, and I didn\u2019t have any of them making shots, so that made it challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do the Aztecs feel pressure to raise their levels in order to salvage a highly anticipated season that\u2019s suddenly heading sideways?<\/p>\n

\u201cI can speak for myself,\u201d Dixon-Waters said. \u201cI don\u2019t view basketball as pressure. It\u2019s a game I love to play. I view not knowing if I\u2019ll have food tomorrow as pressure, but I don\u2019t have situations like that. So for me, it\u2019s easy for me to go out and play. I\u2019ll be fine, though. I\u2019ll keep a positive attitude and look forward to the next game and fix whatever I\u2019ve got to do tomorrow in practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gwath scored three points on 1 of 6 shooting and had two turnovers on Saturday, but he showed a glimmer of progress. Gwath had four blocks, equaling his output in the last three games combined, and seemed more explosive off a right knee protected by a bulky brace.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s heading in the right direction,\u201d Dutcher said. \u201cSome of the movement he had today, we haven\u2019t seen yet this season \u2013 attacking the glass, moving a little more fluid on the floor, getting to his shot. I was pleased with how Magoon moved and played.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe results weren\u2019t there getting a basket, but I think he made a step forward with his mindset and his ability to start playing more like he\u2019s capable of as he comes back from this injury.\u201d<\/p>\n

San Diego State (6-4) vs. Whittier (7-2)<\/p>\n

When: 1 p.m. Monday<\/p>\n

Where: Viejas Arena<\/p>\n

TV: None<\/p>\n

Radio: 760-AM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOENIX \u2013 Three thoughts on San Diego State\u2019s 68-45 loss to\u00a0 No. 1 Arizona on Saturday night at…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":463092,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,1369,1370,3549,7264,18257,62,7289,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-463091","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-college-sports","12":"tag-latest-headlines","13":"tag-san-diego","14":"tag-sandiego","15":"tag-sdsu-aztecs","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-top-stories-sdut","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115759991697618006","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=463091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463091\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/463092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=463091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=463091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=463091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}