SAN DIEGO -- Malik Pope scored 20 points and San Diego State gave Brian Dutcher a victory in his first game as head coach, 91-52 against San Diego Christian on Friday night.
Dutcher took over the Aztecs program after Steve Fisher retired in April. Dutcher had been Fisher's assistant at SDSU for 18 seasons, including the last six with the designation as associate head coach/head coach in waiting.
Fisher watched the season opener from the second row. Fisher's son, Mark, remains on the SDSU staff.
Pope banked in a jumper for the game's first points and SDSU jumped to a 10-0 lead in the first 1:54 before San Diego Christian (1-4), an NAIA team from suburban Santee that doesn't have its own gym, called a time out.