If you didn’t see San Diego State’s basketball scrimmage at UCLA on Saturday afternoon — and no one did other than players, coaches and a few administrators — don’t worry. You saw it all last season.

The Aztecs, according to several eyewitness accounts, took care of the ball and did some good things. They also simply … could … not … shoot.

The final score and complete statistics were not revealed and likely won’t be, per an agreement brokered by the head coaches earlier in the week. NCAA rules about the super-secret, closed-door scrimmages changed this year, though, and while coaches still can’t discuss their existence beforehand, they can and did afterward.

Coach Steve Fisher’s analysis: “We weren’t very good, and they were pretty good … The bright spot is, it doesn’t count on our schedule. Dakarai Allen and Zylan Cheatham were good. No one got hurt. But we didn’t have too many other things where we’d say, ‘Boy, I like this or I like that.’


“We missed way too many easy shots.”

There are a couple of things to keep in mind. One is that it’s a scrimmage in an empty arena with no fans or media or television, meaning coaches can coach without concern over the outcome. Fisher substituted liberally with a 10-man rotation, and multiple players got 20-plus minutes and no one got more than 26.

Another is that these Aztecs are young at several key positions, which generally translates to higher highs and lower lows early in the season. And which happened Saturday.

Fisher said the Aztecs fell behind by 19 early in the second half … then mounted a big comeback and narrowed it to five. They finished with just 10 turnovers … but had them on back-to-back-to-back possessions after getting it to five.


The good, according to Fisher: Allen scored a team-high 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting (3 of 3 on 3s), and Cheatham had 14 points and nine rebounds. The two freshmen, Cheatham and Jeremy Hemsley, had no turnovers. And on the occasion that the Aztecs did get out and run, they were effective.

The bad: They couldn’t shoot and couldn’t rebound. Fisher said they missed their first 11 attempts behind the 3-point arc (he didn’t provide the final totals) and allowed UCLA to rebound nearly half its misses. And after injuries limited the playing time of Bryce Alford and Tony Parker, Bruins freshman guard Aaron Holliday torched what last season was statistically the nation’s third-best defense.

“Holiday was sensational,” Fisher said. “He was by far the best player on the floor.”

The shooting woes, of course, are an old story. The Aztecs ranked 266th (out of 351 Division I teams) last season in shooting percentage, forcing them to rely on defense and rebounding and mental fortitude — none of which they had in ample quantities Saturday.


“We ran them off the floor early, but we had no results,” Fisher said. “I mean, we should have been 10 or 15 ahead in the first 15 minutes and instead we were down two or four. We couldn’t make a basket. We had great looks — not good looks, great looks. Every 3 was wide open.”

Winston Shepard, Trey Kell and Ben Perez were a combined (gulp) 2 of 20 overall.

“The shot part of it was one thing,” said Fisher, whose team plays for real on Friday against Illinois State, “but I think we allowed our inability to make shots influence how hard we played. Our energy because we weren’t making shots was a little bit less than it usually is or has to be. I think it will be a good teaching tool when we put it down on tape and show them some of the stuff.

“It better make us more determined and more aware, that when you let up just a little bit you’re going to get pounded by good teams. And UCLA is a good team.”


Petco update

Utah State’s loss at New Mexico on Saturday topples football dominoes that affect SDSU’s basketball game against USD at Petco Park. The outdoor game is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5, and would move to Sunday afternoon if the Aztecs host the Mountain West football championship game, which is slotted for Dec. 5 at 4:30 p.m. But Utah State’s loss puts Boise State in command of the Mountain division, and Boise State holds a higher ranking in the composite poll that determines the host of the championship game between the first-place teams in West and Mountain divisions.