SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State Aztecs (17-6, 10-4 Mountain West) took on the Boise State Broncos (17-8, 9-5 Mountain West) at Viejas Arena and won 64-47.
This was an important contest for both teams, with the season closing down within the next few weeks, and both teams fighting for a spot among the top seeds in the conference. Before the contest, San Diego State was the fourth seed, and Boise State the fifth. It meant whoever won this would outright take fourth place.
“We played a good first half, and then started the second half aggressively like we were trailing. Really happy with the performance tonight, holding a really good offensive team like Boise to 47 points. Hats off to our defense, and to have a game where we shot 50% from the field, we were still efficient offensively,” said head coach Brian Dutcher.
The Broncos got off to a 9-4 start, the SDSU crowd quieted down from the lackluster start. Nick Boyd was able to get to the line for the Aztecs and knocked down both free throws. One thing to note is the clearly effective pick-and-roll between Miles Byrd and Magoon Gwath, the Boise defenders really had to pick their poison.
It hypothetically wouldn’t be an Aztecs game if the scoring output was high, so unsurprisingly fans saw just a 13-12 lead for SDSU. The lead was taken back by a Boyd 3-pointer. It helps that through this game, SDSU is second in the nation on opponents field goal percentage, holding opponents to just 37% from the field.
SPLASH
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“I think we executed the game plan,” said Boyd. “When we’re focused, I don’t think there’s many teams in the country that can beat us. Our energy, our athleticism, and just the passion we play with, you saw that tonight.”
SDSU was able to gain a slight end towards the end of the first half, behind a Jared Coleman-Jones and-1, where he missed the free-throw but an SDSU offensive rebound and then a step-back 3 pointer by Boyd gave them a 26-18 lead.
It was an 11-0 run by SDSU to finish the half, going into the locker room up 28-18. Boyd was on an absolute heater, with 16 points on 6-8 shooting. Defensively, the Aztecs were up to their usual shenanigans, forcing 9 turnovers from Boise. They also held them to just over 30% from the field, and under 15% from beyond the arc.
“Defense wins games. As long as we stay grouped and dial in our matchups, then we’ll be just fine,” said Wayne McKinney III after being asked about his belief in the program’s defensive mindset.
The run continued to start the second half via a Byrd 3 pointer. The Broncos finally scored with a 3 pointer of their own, just for BJ Davis to hit one, giving the Aztecs a 34-21 lead 3 minutes into the frame.
A quick 4-0 run off a Bronco turnover led to a timeout, and the SDSU crowd on their feet. The Aztecs went up by 15 points, clearly dominating the game.
Seven minutes into the half, it became a 21 point lead for SDSU. Boise State couldn’t find any type of offense, and the Aztecs were capitalizing on the fast break and in transition. Eventually, Boise was able to get the deficit to 35-46, but not before Gwath hit a layup to keep the lead in double-digits.
As the minutes started to run out, an Aztec victory looked more and more inevitable. Headed into a timeout, San Diego State was up 53-41 with just under 4 minutes to play.
It became a 64-47 Aztec victory. As mentioned earlier, this gave them the fourth seed outright, and are now tied with Colorado State for the third seed.
Boyd finished with a career-high 24 points on 10-14 from the field, to go along with 6 rebounds.
“I’ve been struggling in conference, and in the second half against San Jose State (earlier this season) I said I was just going to be aggressive, and then the same thing tonight. You take what the game gives you,” the senior said after the win.
“Unfortunately, we don’t get to enjoy (the win) too long. We play Fresno, so we’ll practice tomorrow and get ready the next day and then go up against a zone for 40 minutes. We haven’t seen a zone all year, so as much as we can enjoy tonight, it’s back to work tomorrow,” Dutcher said.
SDSU’s matchup against Fresno State will be on Feb. 18 at Viejas Arena and tip-off is at 8 p.m.
