San Diego State gets over the BYU hump, earning MWC tourney title, 72-54

By Ryan Greene

Saturday, March 12, 2011 | 9:30 p.m.

If there's a way to make a guy look off of his game despite scoring 30 points, San Diego State figured out how on Saturday afternoon.

By pestering BYU star guard Jimmer Fredette to no end while silencing his supporting cast, the Aztecs claimed their second consecutive Mountain West Conference tournament title at the Thomas & Mack Center in 72-54 fashion.

It was only the Cougars' fourth loss this season, while SDSU got its wanted revenge against the team that handed it its only two defeats during a magical run to a school-record 32 wins (and counting).

"How could we not be mad when the only two losses were to one team?" Aztecs senior point guard D.J. Gay said. "To us, that was unacceptable."

And San Diego State played with a distinctive edge suggesting just that.

They came out with attitude and never let it go. However, they never let that emotion get out of control.

There was no better example of this than senior forward Billy White — a Las Vegas native playing one last time in his home town.

After playing poorly and in foul trouble in each of the two regular season meetings with BYU, he was told hours before the game by head coach Steve Fisher that he'd start the game by drawing the primary defensive assignment on Fredette — the nation's leading scorer who tallied a career-high 52 points 24 hours early against New Mexico.

"You really can't stop him. He's a machine," White said. "He's going to get his shots off no matter what, and he's going to make tough shots. Today, we put pressure on him and did a good job on him."

The 6-foot-8 White's length and quickness bothered Fredette, who in the first half had hardly any open looks from the outside and scored 16 points as quietly as 16 points can be scored, going just 5-of-14 from the floor.

White, on the other side, had 16 points, six rebounds and four steals to that point. The offense flowed from the havoc he helped create on defense.

He'd been mentally sidetracked by the pressure of the first two BYU games this season, and with the lone slip being a bicep-flexing display toward the Cougars bench in the first half, he remained surprisingly in check.

"It was hard," he said with a smile. "I'm an emotional player. I like to celebrate and stuff like that. I had to stay focused."

After leading by 12 at the break, SDSU never slowed, pulling ahead by as many as 23 points with 11 minutes left to play. A quick surge keyed by Fredette and Jackson Emery pulled BYU to as close as 10 points just before the game's final media timeout, but a quick 5-point spurt — capped by a huge and-one play from White — shut the door.

"I think that they were just really frustrated and really wanted to win this game," Fredette said quietly afterward. "They played good defense, were energized and we really were struggling on the offensive end, didn't make a lot of shots, and it's a credit to their defense."

Fredette was 10-of-25 on the night, but the rest of his team was just 9-of-34. Emery struggled to shoot the ball consistently for the second consecutive game, hitting on four of his 11 attempts.

Meanwhile, San Diego State played as controlled on offense as it has all season. The Aztecs committed only six turnovers and took advantage of BYU's weak interior that again looked vulnerable without the suspended Brandon Davies.

SDSU's frontcourt trio of White, star sophomore Kawhi Leonard and Malcolm Thomas combined to score 50 points and grab 27 rebounds.

Fredette earned tournament MVP honors, but getting snubbed for them despite a 21-point, 12-rebound, 5-steal effort didn't mean anything to White.

He just wanted to beat BYU.

"Me and D.J. have been here four years, and we lost to this team four times in a row. It hurt us," White said. "We had to do something to change this around."

There's one thing White and Gay — and likely Leonard, who should be a first-round NBA draft pick this summer — have left to change around before their days on The Mesa are through: Win an NCAA tournament game.

Would you believe that a program likely to draw a No. 2 seed on Selection Sunday has never won a game in the NCAAs?

While putting the SDSU brand on the map this season, the Aztecs have beaten every team they've faced at least once, have an RPI of 3, won a conference regular season title and now have a tournament crown. But when asked where the bar is set for the Aztecs' upcoming trip to the NCAA tourney to be deemed a success, the standards are simple.

"Getting that first one will be something special," Gay said. "We've never won in (the tournament) before, and to get that one win under our belt would be another stepping stone for us."

They're sure to draw a very winnable game on Sunday evening.

With the BYU chapter closed, everything after a first NCAA win would be considered gravy.