No. 19 Aztecs Sail Past Titans

Darrion Trammell hit three 3-pointers during a 29-10 run to open the second half and finished with 18 points for No. 19 San Diego State, which beat Cal State Fullerton 80-57 Monday night to begin one of the most eagerly anticipated seasons in school history.

Fellow newcomer Jaedon LeDee and Lamont Butler scored 11 points apiece and Nathan Mensah had 10 for the Aztecs, who won their 10th straight season opener and their 17th in 18 seasons.

Vincent Lee scored 11 and Jalen Harris 10 for the Titans, the defending Big West Conference champions.

Much of the hype surrounding the Aztecs is because of Trammell, a senior guard who scored 1,010 points in two seasons at Seattle before transferring to SDSU. He and LeDee, a transfer from TCU, join four returning starters to give the Aztecs a deep, experienced team.

SDSU went 23-9 last season, losing to Boise State in the Mountain West championship game and then losing in overtime to Creighton in the NCAA Tournament after leading by nine with 2½ minutes left in regulation.

Trammell made a 3-pointer to open the game. The Titans stayed close throughout the first half and the Aztecs made only two shots in the last five minutes of the first half to lead 32-25 at halftime.

But SDSU came to life in the opening minutes of the second half. Trammell hit a 3 and Keshad Johnson and Matt Bradley had slam dunks for a 44-29 lead that prompted the Titans to call a timeout. SDSU continued to pour it on with two more 3-pointers from Trammell and 3s from Butler and Micah Parrish. The Aztecs pushed the lead to 61-35 with 11:25 to go.

BIG PICTURE

Cal State Fullerton: The Titans couldn't keep up with the bigger Aztecs during the fast-paced first 9 1/2 minutes of the second half. The Titans return three starters from the team that won the Big West to reach the NCAA Tournament before losing to Duke in the first round.

San Diego State: It appeared SDSU's depth would be tested right away when Johnson, a senior forward, took a hard fall less than a minute into the game and then was inadvertently hit in the face by another player's leg and left the game. He returned several minutes later.

Up Next: San Diego State hosts former conference rival BYU on Friday night.