Anchorage Daily News

As a November snowstorm pounded Southcentral Alaska, San Diego State’s D.J. Gay made it rain buckets Saturday night inside Sullivan Arena.

The sophomore tied a Shootout championship-game record with six 3-pointers as the Aztecs posted the most lopsided victory in title-game history with a 76-47 beat down over Hampton University.

Gay had two words to say about the winter weather and San Diego State’s first-ever tournament championship under coach 10-year coach Steve Fisher.

“Cold and beautiful,” said Gay, who finished with a game-high 20 points and player-of-the-game honors. “I love it — I’m glad to be part of it.” With the win, Fisher becomes the 12th coach in Shootout history to have won a Shootout title and an NCAA tournament championship. As the coach for Michigan, Fisher won an NCAA title in 1989 and an NIT title in 1997.

He joined a list of legendary coaches such as North Carolina’s Dean Smith, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and Louisville’s Denny Crum.

“We told the players, ‘Look at the banners!’ ” Fisher yelled during the postgame celebration. “Let’s hang one for San Diego State, so when you come back here in 10 years with family you can say ‘That’s part of what I did.’ ”

And picking apart Hampton (3-3) is what the Aztecs (5-1) did.

The Aztecs raced to a 15-0 lead, thanks in part to three straight 3-pointers, two of them by Gay.

“I think we kind of knocked them off their feet,” Aztecs senior Ryan Amoroso said.

And the Pirates never got back up.

“They beat us in all phases of the game,” Hampton coach Kevin Nickelberry said. “We got beat by a better team tonight.”

The Aztecs led 37-16 at the half. Their 21-point lead was the biggest margin of victory at the intermission in a Shootout championship. It broke a record set by Kentucky, which led Vanderbilt 47-31 in the 1982 Shootout.

“Defense is the staple we’ve set all year,” Amoroso said about a defense that hasn’t given up more than 59 points in six games. Hampton’s 16 halftime points set a record for the lowest first-half output in a Shootout championship, beating the 22 points Kentucky limited Charleston to in 1996.

And the Pirates’ 47 total points was one point short of matching the lowest output in a championship game (Alabama-Birmingham scored 46 in the 1984 Shootout championship game won by Kansas).

Not all of Hampton’s Shootout milestones are records of futility, though.

The Pirates are the first team from a historically black college to make the title game.

“I’m pretty sure a lot of fans didn’t know who Hampton University was coming in,” Nickelberry said.

The game marked the end of a long week for the Pirates, who played a road game in Maryland a week ago Saturday and arrived in Anchorage last Sunday. They fly back to Virginia today and then hit the road again almost immediately for a Wednesday game in Atlanta against Georgia State.

“I’m tired of hotel food,” Nickelberry said.

In another Shootout first, Amoroso became the first player in tournament history to win two Shootout titles. The 6-foot-8 forward won his first with Marquette in 2005, when the Minnesota native scored 30 points in Marquette’s overtime victory against South Carolina.

On Saturday, Amoroso finished with five points and eight rebounds in his sixth Shootout game of his career. He would have needed 13 points to make the Shootout’s top 20 all-time scorers list.

Either way, he was happy to hold another goldpan.

“It’s truly an unbelievable honor,” Amoroso said. “It’ll be part of college basketball history forever.”

After Gay went scoreless against Western Carolina and scored nine against Seattle, Saturday was a perfect day to shine. “It was a brand new day,” Gay said. “Anything could happen and my shots just happened to fall.”

He led two other San Diego State players who landed in double figures. Kyle Spain, the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, added 17 points and eight rebounds, and Billy White chipped in 12 points.

This week was Spain’s second trip to Alaska. He traveled to Fairbanks with San Diego State for the 2005 Top of the World Classic.

Asked if he preferred one city over the other, he said it was hard for him to say with all the snow outside — and from a beach boy who enjoys 70 degrees and sunshine nearly every day.

“They all look the same to me,” he said.

But if he had to choose one city?

“Well, we lost in the Fairbanks tournament,” he said. “We came out with a victory here, so I’m happy.”

Find Daily News sports reporter Kevin Klott at adn.com/sports/kklott or 257-4335.

Hampton 16 31 — 47 San Diego State 37 39 — 76 HAMPTON — Simpson 6-14 0-0 15; Smalling 3-4 1-4 7; Tunnell 3-6 1-2 7; Morgan 1-9 2-2 5; Harrison 2-2 0-0 4; Freeman 2-7 0-0 4; Tolson 1-6 0-0 2; Brooks 1-7 0-0 2; Hines 0-1 1-2 1; Lola-Charles 0-0 0-0 0; Ntoko 0-1 0-0 0; DeGroat 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-58 5-10 47. SAN DIEGO STATE — Gay 7-12 0-0 20; Spain 4-8 8-8 17; White 5-8 2-2 12; Cheriet 3-6 0-0 7; Shelton 1-4 3-4 5; Amoroso 2-10 1-2 5; Williams 2-6 0-0 4; Davis 1-3 0-0 3; Smith 1-1 0-0 3; Thomas 0-0 0-0 0; Horton 0-0 0-1 0; Island 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-59 14-17 76. 3-point goals — Hampton 4-21 (Simpson 3-8; Morgan 1-4; Tunnell 0-1; Freeman 0-1; Tolson 0-3; Brooks 0-3; Ntoko 0-1), San Diego State 10-22 (Gay 6-8; Cheriet 1-1; Davis 1-3; Smith 1-1; Spain 1-4; Island 0-1; Williams 0-3; Amoroso 0-1). Fouled out — Hampton-None, San Diego State-Cheriet. Rebounds — Hampton 34 (Morgan 5), San Diego State 40 (Spain 8; Amoroso 8). Assists — Hampton 11 (Brooks 5), San Diego State 18 (Williams 4). Total fouls — Hampton 15, San Diego State 16. Technical fouls — Hampton-None, San Diego State-None. A — 5836.

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