SAN DIEGO – San Diego State's men's basketball team, led by a game-high 19 points off the bench from Micah Parrish, defeated Kennesaw State 88-54 on Monday night at Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena.
"Well, it felt great to be back in Viejas, we had a great crowd," Aztec head coach Brian Dutcher said. "They brought the energy and that's what I put on the board: we have to bring energy. It feels like we're playing every other night, but we've had a pretty good schedule. It's balanced out. Sometimes it just feels like you're playing every other night and so I was concerned about this game. I knew Kennesaw had a week off before us. We played a tough game against Saint Mary's in Phoenix, [had a] one day prep, but we did a really good job on that one day."
The 34-point loss was the Owls worst since a 35-point loss to No. 9-ranked Creighton in the 2020-21 season.
Parrish's 19 points are a season-high and one off his career-high, 20 points, which he achieved three times at Oakland.
"When the starters are lacking at something, or if (they) start slow, then I know that I have to come in with extra energy," Parrish said. "If I see a play, and the starters don't see it, I'm talking when I'm on the court and I'm fighting through the play."
Leading 39-25 at the intermission, SDSU shot 65.2 percent in the second half (15-of-23), finished the game at 50.8 percent (31-of-61) and had 21 assists on their 31 made buckets.
Joining Parrish in double-digits were Darrion Trammell and Jaedon LeDee, who each finished with 14 points. LeDee was 10-for-11 from the free throw line and pulled down seven rebounds.
Up 18-14 with 11:03 to play in the first half, SDSU went on an 11-0 run over the succeeding 3:30 to take its first double digit lead, 29-14 and had at 14-point advantage going into the half.
The Aztecs put together another double-digit scoring run in the second half, 10-0, led by eight points from LeDee. San Diego State pushed its lead to 40 points with 5:11 to play before earning the 34-point win.
SDSU used a size advantage to outscore the Owls 40-to-16 in the paint and 14-2 in second chance points
SDSU outrebounded the Owls 39-28 with Nathan Mensah pulling down a game-high nine boards and added three blocked shots.
Kennesaw State was led by Kasen Jennings' 17 points.
The Aztecs are off until December 20 when they'll host UC San Diego at 7:30 p.m.
Aztecs Cruise Past Kennesaw State 88-54
