SDSU offense explodes in season opener with six in double-figures to top Titans

SAN DIEGO – Behind a dominant effort from their starting five and a pair of 10-plus point runs in the second half, the San Diego State Aztecs pulled away with a 102-78 win over the Cal State Fullerton Titans on Tuesday night at Viejas Arena.

Before the season head coach Brian Dutcher pointed to the play of his three starting guards as a key for the Aztecs’ aspirations. Against the Titans, the back court looked like the Godzilla monster King Gidorah, with each of the three heads helping to lay waste to the CSF defense.

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There was Latrell Davis, putting up 25 points in his SDSU regular season debut, the ninth time with 20-plus in his career, thanks to 5-of-7 shooting from 3. Elzie Harrington roared to life in the second half, scoring 9 of his 15 points after the break, and Chance Gladden dished out a game-high 8 assists, which equaled the third-most in a game in his career — the threesome combined for just 8 turnovers.

It helped having powerful performances inside from forwards Bear Cherry and Tae Simmons. The fifth-year San Diego native scored 15 points with 7 rebounds and 4 blocks, while Simmons notched 14 points and 11 rebounds with 2 steals. Off the bench Luca Vincini chipped in 10 points and 7 boards.

After scrapping their way to an 11-point lead at halftime, the bit of fortune from Harrington’s attempted alley-oop to Cherry going in early sparked the strongest Aztec run of the game.

After a Josh Ward and-one for CSF, Harrington kicked off an 11-0 run by scoring 7 points in a row. Then back-to-back jams got the crowd roaring, as Simmons spun through the paint to throw it down and then on a fast break Davis lobbed it for Cherry to maul down and force a Titan timeout with a then game-high 19-point lead.

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Out of the breather Cal State Fullerton responded with a 10-0 run, taking advantage of a defense that gave too many easy paths to the basket respecting the Titans 3-point shooting. Though pulling back within single-digits twice, it served to be just…

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Publish date : 2026-11-04 06:06:00

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