San Diego State Should Make Kawhi Leonard the Man

Filed under: BYU, San Diego State

SAN DIEGO -- San Diego State's first loss of the basketball season isn't without potential benefits, for either me or the Aztecs.

l'm less likely to hear weird hippie music when the next basketball polls come out. As SDSU climbed to fourth nationally, each poll seemed a hallucination of Grateful Dead magnitude.

San Diego State above blue bloods Kentucky, Connecticut and North Carolina? Like visions of tangerine trees and marmalade skies.

Earthy clarity may also be a dividend for coach Steve Fisher and his Aztecs (20-1) from Wednesday's 13-point loss at No. 9 Brigham Young. Better to win, sure, but better to discover the fault lines now than in the NCAA Tournament, where the Aztecs are 0-6.

The best BYU team in 20 years, despite trailing at halftime, schooled SDSU at times. "Very well-coached" and "very well put together" is how Aztecs point guard D.J. Gay described the Cougars (20-1) Friday.

Now comes the crucial part.

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