San Diego State struggles again in exhibition loss to No. 21 USC

If there’s one thing that San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher can be happy about, it’s that his Aztecs have a third exhibition game before the regular season starts. 

That’s because the second exhibition game was pretty ugly and there’s plenty to work on before the games count for real.

The Aztecs trailed the whole way on their home court at Viejas Arena, losing 85-68 Friday night to Southern Cal, which is ranked No. 21 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25. It was the second straight loss to a Top 25 team after an 82-67 defeat at No. 5 Arizona a week earlier. 

The good news is that the competition will ease up when the Aztecs host Long Beach State in the final exhibition, Wednesday night at Viejas Arena. The regular season starts Nov. 3 at home against Fullerton State.

Below is a look at three key takeaways for San Diego State after their second exhibition loss:

1. Turnovers put San Diego State in an early hole

The Aztecs committed 10 turnovers in the first half that led to 12 points for the Trojans, who raced to a 51-31 lead through the first 20 minutes.

Overall, the Aztecs committed an unsightly 20 turnovers that set up 16 points. 

Dutcher can’t be happy about that. 

Given so many opportunities by the Aztecs, the Trojans were 7 of 14 from the 3-point line in the first half, including three by Rodney Rice, while the Aztecs made just 3 of 10.

There were some impressive slam dunks by the Aztecs, including Cherry’s slam on an alley-oop pass from newcomer David Torresani. Harrington and Simmons also had nice dunks. 

The halftime deficit would have been worse if Harrington hadn’t made a 3-pointer with 48 seconds to go. USC pushed its lead to 23 points early in the second half.

2. Brian Dutcher sticks with the same starting five

Dutcher went with the same starting lineup for the second straight exhibition: guards Chance Gladden, Isaiah Sy and Elzie Harrington; forward Tae Simmons; and center Jermiah “Bear” Cherry.

Cherry went down hard early but ran it off and stayed in the game. 

3. Elzie Harrington leads San Diego State with 19 points

The Aztecs had three players score in double digits. Harrington scored 19, Cherry 16 and Latrell Davis 11. 

Rice had a game-high 23 for the Trojans, while Alijah Arenas had 22 points and 12 rebounds. Jacob Cofie added 13.

San Diego State has one exhibition remaining

The exhibition against Long Beach State will tip off at 7 p.m. Wednesday. There is no TV, but the game can be heard on San Diego Sports 760 radio.