{"id":39955,"date":"2025-11-06T00:26:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T00:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/39955\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T00:26:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T00:26:09","slug":"tae-simmons-and-elzie-harrington-ignite-the-aztecs-bench-in-win-over-long-beach-state-the-daily-aztec","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/39955\/","title":{"rendered":"Tae Simmons and Elzie Harrington ignite the Aztecs bench in win over Long Beach State \u2013 The Daily Aztec"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The freshman duo of guard Elzie Harrington and forward Tae Simmons provided a spark off the bench for San Diego State in the team\u2019s 77-45 win at home over Long Beach State on Nov. 4.<\/p>\n

With a combined 23 points off the bench for the Aztecs, Harrington and Simmons showed no signs of nerves in their first collegiate game. The dynamic freshman duo looked polished, playing so well off each other that they appeared like seasoned college veterans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very impressed with how they both played,\u201d junior guard Miles Byrd said postgame.<\/p>\n

The performance from Harrington and Simmons marked the first time an Aztec freshman scored double-digit points since 2015-16, when Jeremy Hemsley did it for the Aztecs. However, both freshmen managed to hit that mark in their debuts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Elzie excels off the bench<\/p>\n

Harrington played 25 minutes for SDSU, ending the game with 13 points, three rebounds and four assists in his collegiate debut.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe handled the pressure really well,\u201d Byrd said postgame. \u201cElzie did a good job today of getting by the defenders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harrington is a guard out of St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, Calif., who was the 73rd-ranked recruit in his 2025 high school class. Harrington\u2019s diverse skill set was on full display against the Beach, as he showcased his elite mid-range game and passing ability early for the Aztecs.<\/p>\n

A cross-court pass from Harrington led to a corner three-pointer by fellow freshman Simmons to put SDSU up 12-9. Harrington then pulled up deep from beyond the arc and knocked down his first three-pointer of the game, as the Aztecs took a two-point lead at 20-18.<\/p>\n

Nearing the end of the first half, Harrington found an open lane into the paint where he went up for the slam dunk. Harrington\u2019s size showed in full force when he went up for the jam.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has point guard instincts, he\u2019s played point guard his whole career, so it\u2019s not like he\u2019s played other positions and is now becoming a point guard,\u201d head coach Brian Dutcher said postgame. \u201cHe will be given an opportunity to show what he can do on the floor and hopefully elevate his play.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Diego State forward Tae Simmons celebrates as the clock hits zero against Long Beahc State on Nov. 4, 2025 at Viejas Arena.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Simmons silences The Beach\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tae Simmons played 15 minutes off the bench for the Aztecs, scoring 10 points and seven rebounds. Simmons is a highly physical and aggressive player whose big frame makes him a force to be reckoned with on the court.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTae doesn\u2019t look like a freshman; he looks like a grown man out there and plays like a grown man,\u201d coach Dutcher said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Simmons\u2019 athleticism was on full display during the game in the second half when Harrington threw a lob up to him. Simmons slammed it down for the alley-oop dunk, putting SDSU up 48-30 13 minutes into the second half.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The true freshman forward out of Heritage Christian High School in Simi Valley, Calif., is a bruiser in the paint on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. Simmons also showed his shooting ability, going 4-for-6 from the field and knocking down a three-pointer in the first half.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cShout out to the freshmen, both of them were really good today,\u201d Byrd said. \u201cElzie played great [and] Tae played great. It just shows how deep a team we really are.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The freshmen core made their presence known tonight and look to continue this trend into the heart of the 2025 season. Their contribution coming off the bench will be a significant factor in terms of the Scarlet and Black\u2019s success this year.\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The freshman duo of guard Elzie Harrington and forward Tae Simmons provided a spark off…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39956,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-39955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}