SAN DIEGO _ On the night when a 6-foot-6 kid from the Inland Empire had his jersey retired in Viejas Arena, another 6-6 kid from the Inland Empire honored his legacy with the kind of performance that, well, gets jerseys retired.
Earlier in the week, Matt Mitchell spoke about what Kawhi Leonard means to him, growing up just miles apart, roughly the same size, both being Inland Empire high school players of the year, both coming to San Diego State.
How last summer he knew he had to shed 20 pounds from his doughy frame if he wanted to be the player he imagined he could be, how for motivation and encouragement and inspiration he would gaze up at Leonard's Klaw logo in the JAM Center practice facility. How he twice snuck into Leonard's summer workouts and watched and learned and dreamed.
Then Mitchell showed Saturday what Leonard embodies: Hard work pays off.
The fourth-ranked Aztecs (23-0, 12-0) are still undefeated because of it, beating Utah State 80-68 on an emotional, electric night at with everyone wearing white Kawhi shirts at Viejas Arena behind Mitchell's 28 points, 24 of which came in the second half.
Came after trailing 39-31 at intermission. Came after Leonard, in closing his remarks to the soldout crowd, prophetically said: "We got another half to go."
Mitchell had another half to go.
The barrage started with 15 minutes to go and Utah State (17-7, 6-5) leading 47-41, on a 3 from the left side.
Then he made another from almost the same spot.
And another, this time off a dribble step-back.
Then came four free throws.
Then a contested jumper at the shot-clock buzzer.
Then the deepest 3 yet.
Malachi Flynn and KJ Feagin added 15 points each, and Yanni Wetzell had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The key stat, though, was second-half shooting. The Aggies shot 55.2% in the first half against one of the nation's top defenses, then just 36% in the second. They were 7 of 10 behind the arc in the first half, 2 of 11 in the second half.
Sam Merrill had 16 points but needed 12 shots to get it with Feagin hounding him on defense. Brock Miller had 15 points, also on 12 shots. Neemias Queta, their 7-0 center, finished with a pedestrian eight points and six rebounds in 36 minutes.
The SDSU coaches privately talked about the potential for distraction, and their worst fears were realized when Leonard entered the arena during a timeout with 10:34 left in the first half and the Aztecs leading 22-17.
With Leonard and his family seated on the baseline beneath the basket SDSU was shooting at, Utah State went on a 14-0 run.
Maybe it was awe from one of the world's greatest players sitting just feet away. Or maybe it was Utah State finally being closer to the team that was the only unanimous preseason favorite in Mountain West history, with Queta working inside and Merrill looking more like the 2018-19 conference player of the year.
It also didn't help that Flynn suddenly went cold after scoring 10 straight points and having a free throw to go up nine midway through the first half.
But he missed a free throw for only the third time in 2020, and then missed everything else the rest of the half _ including air-balled 3s on back-to-back possessions.
The other problem came when Wetzell, who was guarding Queta alone without the assistance of a double-team in the post, picked up two fouls in the space of seven seconds and went to the bench.
The guy who normally would cover Queta, Nathan Mensah, has been out all of 2020 with a reported pulmonary embolism. The first big off the bench is normally Aguek Arop, but he sat out a third straight game after re-injuring his shoulder. The next big, Nolan Narain, also had two fouls. The next big was Joel Mensah, who doesn't have the bulk of the others and gave away a good 30 or 40 pounds to the massive Queta.
Then the teams retreated to the locker room for halftime, and the arena was darkened for Leonard's ceremony.
Steve Fisher spoke first, arm around Leonard.
The No. 15 jersey was unveiled from the rafters. And then the man himself spoke.
"It's a dream come true," Leonard said. "Coming here, I wanted to make a name for myself. I wanted to put San Diego State on the map."
He thanked his SDSU teammates and his Clippers teammates for making the trip south after their afternoon game at Staples Center, a win against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Then he mentioned that there was still, you know, another 20 minutes to play.
