More on Malik Pope's recent game

From Mark Ziegler after San Diego State's win over San Diego Christian:

You heard about Malik Pope’s five-star recruiting status, heard about the sublime physical gifts, saw the occasional snippet in games. But Saturday was the first time the picture began to crystalize, the first time potential began to morph into performance.

Yes, it was against a 5-5 NAIA team. But here’s what the 6-foot-10 freshman did in a scintillating 2½ minutes late in the first half as the Aztecs extended a two-point lead to 20:

--Grabbed a rebound above the rim, dribbled coast-to-coast, crossed over twice, took off a good 10-12 feet from the basket, threw down a thunderous dunk, then raced to the other end and grabbed another rebound.

--Poked away a pass with his endless arms at midcourt, took a couple dribbles, then whipped a diagonal pass through traffic to Kevin Zabo for a layup.

--Moved his feet on defense and, when Christian’s Prince Arceneaux decided to launch a 3, blocked the shot of the 6-7 forward. That started a break which nearly ended in a dunk off a no-look, over-the-head lob from Zabo.

His stat line: 15 minutes, seven points, six rebounds, four assists, two blocks, one steal, no turnovers.

“You like to watch a guy like that do some of the things he can do with his size,” coach Steve Fisher said. “He took one defensive rebound and pushed it (up court) like a point guard who was 5-9 and gave a bullet pass for an assist. He came down later on and shot an air ball from the wing, and that’s also a little bit typical of how he’s played.

“We’re going to need Malik. We want Malik to grow and feel confidence, and we saw more of that tonight than we have. That was good to see.”