Tag: Jalen McDaniels

On Jalen McDaniels

I was expecting to recap a San Diego State men’s basketball game tonight.

This is not a recap of a San Diego State men’s basketball game.

A few hours before the Aztecs were slated to tip off against Cal State Dominguez Hills, we learned of a two civil suits (one already filed, another apparently on its way) against sophomore star Jalen McDaniels, alleging that while in high school he filmed and shared sex videos without the knowledge or consent of the women involved.

There are times like this where I realize the limitations of having a blog where we like to crack jokes and take things a little less than seriously. Grappling with real world societal problems I’m not so good at, and I’m sort of at a loss for a nuanced take right now beyond, “This is some fucked up shit.”

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Blind recap: Aztecs lose to bad Cal Berkeley 89-83

We regret to inform that none of your loyal scribes were able to watch this game then write about it — which is to say; we were unavailable, except for one of us at the game as a visiting civilian with no intention of sitting down at a computer afterwards. Which is for the best as it turns out! San Diego State lost to the University of California men’s basketball team 89-83 in Berkeley.

The loss to Pac-12 cellar-dwelling Cal drops SDSU into the college hoops wilderness. With a résumé of a 30-point loss to Iowa State, a home loss to little crosstown rival USD and this loss to a bad Cal team, the Aztecs are now 5-4 and have squandered virtually any chance of an at-large berth to the big dance. It’s Mountain West tourney champs or bust, y’all, and it’s hard to imagine this iteration putting together a miracle run like last season, even if No. 6 Nevada weren’t standing in the way.

Jalen McDaniels led the Aztecs with 20 points and Jeremy Hemsley had 19, including 5 of 6 on threes. Neither was enough to keep the Golden Bears from finishing the game on an 18-5 run over the last 3:53. Justice Sueing led Cal with 23 points.

Feel free to read the box score and weep, and here’s Mark Zeigler’s U-T gamer.

SDSU returns home to face Division II powerhouse Cal State Dominguez Hills this Wednesday in a game that is sure to be enthusiastically attended. The Aztecs then host BYU on December 22.

Game Recap: Aztecs have Normal one in win over Illinois State

Coming into this Saturday’s game against Illinois State (alma mater of Steve Fisher, who used to pass out free tickets to students in his first year as San Diego State head coach) in Normal, Illinois, it was not yet entirely clear how good this Aztecs men’s basketball team is.

We know they’re “good” but with three wins over three bad teams, one win over a good team, and two blowout losses to two very good/great teams, they had yet to make a significant impact – positive or negative – on their tournament resume.

While they have a long way to go until March, SDSU added what will probably end up being a pretty solid win with a 75-65 victory over the Redbirds and improve their season record to 5-2.

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Game Recap: Luxuriously attired SDSU drops the hammer on one of the country’s worst teams

Men’s basketball’s new NET rankings, the long-awaited replacement for RPI, had a bit of a bumpy launch this week with a bizarre Top 10 and math nerds saying very unkind things about the formula. After watching the telecast of tonight’s action at Viejas Arena, I’ll give the new rankings system this: Jackson State at 349 seems … about right.

San Diego State, which debuted at 96 in NET after losing by 30 to Iowa State in Maui last week, regrouped to crush the Tigers 87-44 in a performance as pretty as the Aztecs’ turquoise Native American Heritage Month unis. Or nearly as pretty, anyway.

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Game Recap: Aztecs redeem Maui trip with memorable comeback over Xavier

A little after noon Pacific time, I was in a pretty dark place. Well, I was at work, so that goes without saying. But more so than usual even!

In my head, I was already crafting a depressing game recap about how the Aztecs were on the verge of being cast into the sea at the Maui Invitational. How the hunt for a quality nonconference win was looking grim. How one day after getting their doors blown off by No. 1 Duke, the Aztecs responded by getting their doors blown off by a team that was very decidedly not Duke.

Don’t get me wrong, Xavier is a solid Big East foe, but when you’re getting run by 19 in the first half against the Musketeers, many people would consider that time to panic.

Instead, Jalen McDaniels decided it was time to grab himself some plate lunch and fuckin’ eat.

McDaniels scored a career-high 26 points as the Aztecs roared to within three at halftime and then dominated the game’s final 15 minutes for a 79-74 win — a thrilling national TV showcase for both an NBA prospect and a team looking to build an at-large resume.

This is *not* March, but that was some good shit nonetheless.

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