SAN DIEGO — It wasn't in front of the 17,204 fans that were in Anaheim's Honda Center the last time they played, or the 12,414 that usually fill the canyon of red seats at Viejas Arena.
It wasn't in front of anybody, in fact, other than a few dozen staff and media, and a guy pumping in crowd noise from a laptop.
But it goes in the books just the same: San Diego State beat No. 22 UCLA in men's basketball 73-58 on Wednesday night.
It doesn't happen very often. This was only the second time in, oh, 80 years. It was the first by double digits since 1939.
It was a sweet way for the Aztecs to open their centennial season of college basketball and proof of what coach Brian Dutcher preaches ad nauseam, that program is tantamount to players.
Malachi Flynn is off to the NBA. Yanni Wetzell is playing pro ball in Australia. Defensive stopper KJ Feagin is gone, too. But those who returned plus a couple veteran newcomers carried on the aura of last season's 30-2 record and No. 6 national ranking with the consummate team effort — unselfish passing, balanced scoring, help-side defense, ferocious rebounding, bench depth, mental tenacity.
Five Aztecs scored at least eight points, led by Matt Mitchell and Jordan Schakel with 15 each, and eight had baskets. Four players made 3-pointers. Seven had at least three rebounds. Eight had an assist.
Stat of the night: six.
That's how many offensive fouls the Aztecs drew.
The fifth was by Aguek Arop to send UCLA star Chris Smith to the bench with his fourth foul with 10:35 to go and extinguish a Bruins run. A minute later, the Aztecs led by 16.
The only crack in the door for the Bruins was four fouls by both SDSU's bigs, Nathan Mensah and Maryland transfer Joshua Tomaic, with seven minutes left and UCLA post Cody Riley (14 points, 12 rebounds) having his way inside.
Dutcher went small by necessity as much as design, using the 6-foot-6 Arop at center with four guards. UCLA still scored but couldn't stop the quicker Aztecs at the other end. When 6-foot-3 Trey Pulliam blew past 6-6 Jaime Jaquez Jr. for a layup with 2 1/2 minutes left, the margin was 18.
The exclamation point came in the closing minute, with the shot-clock running down. Terrell Gomez, all 5-8 of him, got in the lane against UCLA trees and hoisted a shot that trickled over the front rim ... and rolled in.
SDSU caught a break when projected UCLA starters Jalen Hill and Kentucky transfer Johnny Juzang — their best rim protector and outside shooter, respectively — showed up in street clothes with undisclosed injuries. (Juzang was in a walking boot).
Still, the Bruins opened the game with a 3 from the left corner and then one from the right corner, and they were probably wondering why their coaches harped all week about SDSU's vaunted defense that was ranked 10th nationally last season.
The Bruins didn't have a turnover for the first five minutes and made eight of their first 10 shots.
Then the old Aztecs showed up.
Rest of the half: 3 of 12 shooting, eight turnovers.
That allowed SDSU to turn a six-point deficit into a 34-28 halftime lead. The key moment came not when Mitchell was on the floor (and scoring 10 first-half points) but when he wasn't for the final 3:50 after getting his second foul.
The Aztecs managed to hang onto the lead without him behind a 3 from Schakel, a put-back from 2019-20 bench warmer Keshad Johnson, a layup from Arop and two free throws by Arop after SDSU's eighth offensive rebound of the half.
With the Bruins bench shortened, Dutcher's strategy became apparent early. He was going to send bodies at the Bruins and press them, turning the game into a war of attrition. He went 10 deep in the first half and wasn't afraid to put lineups of four backups on the floor together.
