By BERNIE WILSON AP Sports Writer
SAN DIEGO — The Cal State Fullerton men’s basketball team rode the rollercoaster in its season opener, shaking off an abysmal start to keep it close at halftime before fading in the second half.
Jaedon LeDee scored six of his career-high 27 points in the first three minutes of the second half and No. 17 San Diego State broke open a close game to beat Fullerton, 83-57, on Monday night at Viejas Arena.
LeDee also pulled down 10 rebounds for SDSU, the runner-up for last season’s national title. Before the game, the school unveiled banners for being an NCAA finalist and for winning the Mountain West regular-season and tournament titles. The Aztecs reached their first Final Four, beat Florida Atlantic, 72-71 on Lamont Butler’s buzzer-beater and then lost to UConn, 76-59, in the championship game.
Micah Parrish had five 3-pointers and scored 17 for SDSU, while newcomer Reese Waters (a USC transfer) added 15.
The Aztecs went on a 15-4 run after the Titans closed to 39-38 on Grayson Carper’s 3-pointer early in the second half. The spurt started when LeDee scored six straight points, including a coast-to-coast dunk and a 3-point play. Elijah Saunders had a steal and dunk, Parrish hit a 3-pointer and Butler sank a jumper to make it 54-42.
The Titans had fallen behind 14-0 in the first four minutes before slowly getting back into the game. They went on a 13-5 run to close the first half and pulled to within 37-35. Max Jones had five points during the surge, including a 3-pointer.
“San Diego State is a really great basketball team,” Cal State Fullerton coach Dedrique Taylor said. “I thought there were times when we had a chance to exert our dominance, but we didn’t always respond the right way. I love playing San Diego State because they give you a direction in terms of what you need to address with your ball club.”
DJ Brewton led the Titans with 13 points, six assists, four steals and two rebounds in 34 minutes. Max Jones had 11 points and eight rebounds, while Donovan Oday had 10 points, two rebounds and a pair of steals. Fullerton shot 33% from the field, while the Aztecs shot 45%.
San Diego State lost five key players from last season’s team, including leading scorer Matt Bradley and leading rebounder Nathan Mensah. Aztecs guard Darrion Trammell, the leading returning scorer, has been sidelined with a shoulder injury since early October.
BANNER EVENING
SDSU coach Brian Dutcher was pleased with the banner raising, the attention the program has received since its magical run and the enthusiastic opening night crowd.
“It’s great. I’m going to look at it every day and then go to work,” he said. “Step onto Steve Fisher Court and look at a Final Four banner. A lot of good stuff’s happened here. And the crowd tonight, come on. The energy in the building was incredible. We feed off that. It’s a fun place to play and a fun place to come watch a game. It was exciting.”
The Aztecs are once again the hottest ticket in town. Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove, who grew up in nearby El Cajon, led the student section in the “I believe that we will win” chant before the game.
UP NEXT
Cal State Fullerton hosts La Sierra on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
SDSU is at former league rival BYU on Friday at 6 p.m.
